Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Three Fated Heroes
by SleepyGoron
Summary: In the world of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, Arceus the Creator has been imprisoned in a nightmare by Darkrai, who wishes to seize control of the world. Pokémon are being turned against each other, and even killing each other. The only hope for the world lies in three mysterious heroes of prophecy. Can these heroes free Arceus and restore order to their world?
1. Testament

**Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Three Fated Heroes**

 _Fan Fiction by SleepyGoron_

 **Part 1- The Three Fated Heroes and the Rise of Darkness**

 _Testament_

The world of Pokémon in which this tale is set, where the inhabitants live without bossy human trainers or being held captive inside capsule-like red and white balls, has been around long since the beginning of creation. When the Great Arceus created this world, he also created Dungeons, which some Pokémon then grew to inhabit. These dungeons are said to change every time you enter or exit, and are also said to be home to some very vicious and powerful Pokémon. Other Pokémon explore these dungeons in search of riches and treasure.

This is a story of three heroes of Prophecy, who saved the world of Pokémon from annihilation on one occasion. One was of the Grass Type, one of Fire Type, and one of Water Type. These three heroes and their group of allies worked together in order to protect the world and keep the peace.

But first, before we begin the story, explanations are in order. A dark evil was spreading across the world in the time in which this tale is set. No-one knew why, but civilised Pokémon who lived in towns instead of dungeons started to go feral, some hurting, even _killing_ their own brethren. It was a dark time. The mythical powers of Arceus and the other Protectors of the world seemed to be powerless against the growing threat of the evil uprising. There were even talks that the Pokémon were being controlled by a leader. However, there was no proof of this, and no-one had any clues as to who it could be. But, prophets, who were mainly Psychic-Types, started telling of the rise of three mysterious heroes in the coming future, who would restore the world to its former peace and prosperity. All the fearful Pokémon of the world could do was hope and pray for these heroes to arrive…

-Excerpt from the Lost Texts of the Pokémon World


	2. Prologue: The Creator's Downfall

_Prologue_

Arceus looked down upon the world he had created from the Hall of Light, the Dungeon he resided at the top of, which was guarded by extremely powerful Pokémon to stop any intruders from getting to Arceus. Being a world-creating God-like creature didn't make you any less needing of a little home security.

"Such disarray my world has fallen into," he remarked, a worried look on his normally-unreadable face. He couldn't believe that the Pokémon were slaughtering one another. His own _children_ , so to speak. It made him angry as he watched two Kecleon brothers, who ran chains of shops across many different towns, scratched each other to death, with the purple bipedal creature slashing his green counterpart to shreds. While this happened, a young green and brown Pokémon slept in a house on the edge of town, as did many other villagers.

What had this world come to? Arceus sighed. Then he remembered the Prophecy that so many Poké-Prophets were spreading around. There was still hope for this little world of his. A cycle of events that could change this world from wrong to right would hopefully soon come into play. The Three Heroes would soon assemble and save the beautiful, picturesque world that Arceus created many eons ago. Arceus just had to have hope.

"Lord Arceus, I presume?" a singsong voice broke the silence in the Hall of Light, causing even the World Creator to jump with a start.

A black Pokémon with a red and white face was standing there on two legs. It then shifted into a legless, ghost like form.

"Wh-Who are you? I don't remember creating _you_!"

The Pokémon grinned at this remark. "Of course you don't. I suppose introductions are in order, then? I am Darkrai, the Pokémon of Nightmares. I was created by the darkest side of one of your precious subjects. And now, I am here to dethrone you and create a World of Nightmares! My legion of followers will soon expand to include every Pokémon in this world!"

"D-Darkrai… Are you the one behind all this?!" Panic rose in Arceus' mind. He had never thought of the darkness within his creations that manifested in this Pokémon. Which Pokémon was he created from?

"Right you are, 'my lord'. Now tell me, what exactly does it take to kill a God?"

Arceus' panic subsided, realising that he needed to stay calm, and he gave a mocking laugh at the thought of being killed by this creature that seemed to be all talk. Even the perfect being had a cocky streak. He also hadn't considered how this creature had gotten through his security.

"If you had any form of intellect, fool, you would know that I am an Immortal being and cannot be killed."

Darkrai replied in a mocking tone, "Well aren't we just the most special being in this whole damned world? If I can't kill you, then I know just what I will do with you."

Arceus readied himself to fight against Darkrai, but was powerless towards the evil being's first move. A ray of black energy was fired at Arceus from Darkrai's outstretched hands, the outstanding force of which knocked the Creator to the ground. Darkrai laughed. Arceus the Creator had been felled by some malevolent being who seemed to confident with his own power. He looked over to see the Plates on an altar to the right side of the room, which were stone slabs which could change his type. He wished he had been quick enough to get the Fist Plate to become a Fighting type and fight back, but he knew somewhere deep down that even that would be futile. This Pokémon was powerful, and had taken him by surprise somehow. Arceus knew that to try and fight would be a useless waste of energy.

"You… What's your game? And also, what was that attack just now?"

"That, Creator, is none of your business. The Age of Arceus has come to an end on this fated night that I have waited a very long time for. Now, become trapped in an eternal nightmare!"

"What do you think you're… Doing?"

Arceus trailed off as his eyes grew heavy under Darkrai's powerful Hypnosis. He tried to fight it, but even the Creator was no match for this kind of dark force. Something was negating his power, sucking it away from him. He could feel his energy being siphoned off.

As Arceus' eyes forced themselves shut and his consciousness began to fade before he could stand up again, the desperate thought of the three heroes and the Prophecy came to him once again.

 _Please… Save us… All…_

 **A/N: As of November 7th, 2015, I have made a few minor edits to this Prologue to try and make it a bit better. Thanks to Wannabe Looter for suggesting these edits.**


	3. Chapter 1: A Murder in Treasure Town

**_Chapter 1_**

Chespin woke with a start. That dream couldn't be real, could it? There was no Pokémon Arceus didn't create, and the great Creator was the most powerful being in existence, so nothing could have brought him down so easily.

Still, the thoughts of the dream that tormented his previous night's sleep haunted him still as he made his way out of his small home to work at Exploud's Guild.

The Exploud Guild had been around for a very long time, and had once been known as the Wigglytuff Guild. However, the past Guildmaster, renowned as a great explorer and hero, had long since retired and left town, and not many knew what became of him. The second-in-command, Chatot, went missing when exploring a dungeon and none had seen him since. Now, the Guild was in Exploud's very capable hands, and was thriving more than ever. There were even two extremely powerful heroes working there, named Lucario and Luxray. They were great explorers who once went to the future, discovered the fabled Hidden Land and stopped a crisis involving the legendary Time Gears, and the transformation of the Guardian of Time Dialga into his Primal form. These two Pokémon were living legends, and acted as mentors towards Chespin and his friend Fennekin. Chespin aspired to one day become a great explorer just like them, which was growing ever more difficult in this evil-ridden world, where Pokémon slaughtered each other.

When Chespin entered Treasure Town, his home, the sight that greeted him was shocking. Sheriff Klinklang, who had taken over from the old Sheriff Magnezone a few years ago, and his group of officers were trying to calm a group of shocked and afraid Pokémon down. Something had obviously happened last night, which wasn't an uncommon occurrence. Treasure Town was in a bad state the past few years, and many Pokémon had turned evil. But what had happened last night?

Chespin made his way through a crowd of horrified-looking Pokémon to see what had garnered the attention of so many. The sight that followed was one that would stick to his mind for the rest of the young Pokémon's life. There lay one of the Kecleon brothers, who Chespin had formed a bond with over his time at work in the Guild, with deep slash marks across his abdomen. He was dead, and his brother was nowhere to be seen.

Chespin then put two and two together.

"N-No way! I don't believe it! Is this really what I think it is?"

"Yes, Chespin, klink! We are deeply sorrowful to see this, klang! I know you and Fennekin were very close to these brothers, klink!" The Sheriff gave Chespin his condolences, but Chespin could still not believe what he was seeing. One of the Kecleon brothers had gone feral and killed his own brother. Was this really what the world was coming to?

"Horrible, isn't it?" Fennekin approached her best friend looking horrified and sad. She looked to have been crying earlier. This was strange for Fennekin, as she was the strongest Pokémon Chespin knew, and usually showed as little emotion as possible. Chespin wanted to comfort her, but he was so dumbfounded and horrified at the murder that he had no idea what to say. He himself needed comforting.

"Chespin, promise me you won't do anything rash." Fennekin looked Chespin in the eyes and said this in a concerned tone, worried that her friend would go looking for a fight with the feral Kecleon. Chespin was very bright and a capable explorer, but had a rebellious streak and was very headstrong. Fennekin acted as his older sibling on many occasions, trying to keep him out of trouble and looking out for him. The two of them were a perfectly-suited duo, and their constant chain of good work proved that.

However, for some reason Fennekin's warning meant nothing to Chespin. He was angry, and wanted to know the reason for his friend's death. He wanted to track down the purple Kecleon and ask why, and what exactly brought him to killing his own brother, who he had lived and worked with in Treasure Town since the earliest days of the Wigglytuff Guild, even helping Lucario and Luxray on their adventures by selling them useful items. But Chespin knew that in this day and age, Pokémon killing Pokémon was becoming more and more frequent.

"Okay, Fennekin. We need to get to work today, though. Kecleon would have wanted us to do a good job!" Chespin tried to get his partner psyched up to work, but Fennekin seemed distracted. Her eyes seemed to be pondering something, and Chespin didn't know what that may have been. Of course, she had just seen the dead body of one of her fellow townspeople, so that may have been a factor which contributed to her distanced gaze at seemingly nothing.

"I'm sorry to hear about Kecleon."

Lucario appeared next to Chespin and Fennekin. He had a way of making himself move so silently his presence was concealed. People said he had spent time as a Bounty Hunter, and he picked up on that trick to sneak up on his outlaw prey. Chespin thought that these rumours could easily be true.

"Lucario," Fennekin cried out "Why has this happened?"

Lucario looked at her, and it killed him to see her sad. "Ah, that is because of this world. If you ask Luxray, he'll even tell you that this world is starting to become like his world, the human world. People kill each other there all the time."

Luxray was actually a human boy, and went between worlds at will, thanks to powers given to him by a mysterious figure that a rumour said was Arceus. However, he was rarely in the Pokémon world, as he was now working towards a game design degree in college. However, he still came to help out in the Pokémon world whenever he was free, and was one of the key Pokémon trying to stop the outbreak of feral Pokémon in the world. He was much loved in this world, and was renowned as a great hero along with his partner Lucario.

Fennekin began crying. "I hate the way the world is these days!" Chespin tried to comfort her, but was too shocked to see Fennekin actually crying and didn't know what words to say. Lucario too seemed amazed that Fennekin was crying.

"Fennekin, don't cry, Kecleon wouldn't have wanted you to be sad like this. Neither of them would…"

"One of them is the _reason_ I'm sad! What the hell has this world come to? Lucario, something needs to change!"

Chespin was feeling numb by the pain of seeing his best friend in tears and his mentor at a loss for words. A rage was starting to build up inside of him.

"Fennekin… _We all need to change this world together_. Sure, Pokémon are going feral and killing each other, and the world is in crisis, but we Guild members are the ones who need to change things. And it may not seem like it, but the work we do each day actually makes a difference to our world!"

"R…Really?"

Lucario chimed in "Yes, Fennekin, Chespin is right. We need to stay strong, no matter what happens to us. Our Guild and all the others across the world are the spearheads towards change for this troubled world. You know what the prophecies say, right? About the Three Heroes that are destined to change our world?"

Chespin knew that story, as it had been told for many years since the outbreak of evil Pokémon. The Prophecy said that three heroes would free the world from the jaws of death.

"Yeah, Lucario, but those are just stories." Fennekin sighed. She seemed embarrassed at her tears.

"But those stories give us hope, and if they a _re_ real, then it is our job to make a contribution to restoring the peace. And how do we do that? By doing jobs!"

Fennekin seemed to brighten up a little. "You're right… It's what Kecleon would have wanted."

Chespin smiled, but inside he still felt angry. The purple Kecleon needed to pay, along with every other killer out there.

 _I'll find him!_ Chespin thought to himself as Lucario and Fennekin discussed jobs for she and Chespin to take.

 _I'll find him, and I'll make him pay for destroying their brotherhood, and our friendships!_

Sure, Fennekin had told him not to do anything rash, but Chespin really needed to do this. He wanted to avenge his friend. But part of him wondered if doing that by killing another friend was right. He pondered this as he, Fennekin and Lucario headed off towards Exploud's Guild to find a job to do that day…

Meanwhile, elsewhere, a Pokémon named Tyranitar glared down at a little blue figure, which you could liken to a frog of the human world. This frog had a foam scarf, and was named Froakie.

"You think that's good enough?!" Tyranitar shouted angrily. Froakie didn't react to his boss's rage, as he was used to it by now.

"You let him get away?! Guildmaster Cacturne, leader of the most incompetent Guild in this whole world! You, child, are a failure of an assassin!"

Froakie remained silent. He didn't care about Cacturne getting away, because after seeing the futile battle he put up against a Pokémon of a type weak against his own, Froakie deemed him unworthy of killing. Besides, what damage could a Pokémon like that do to the Shade Syndicate?

"That being said, you a _re_ the best assassin we have, and I have a new target for you. But let me warn you, if this job ends up like the last, it will be _you_ who dies."

Tyranitar, leader of the Shade Syndicate, a mysterious band of assassins, handed Froakie a sheet of parchment. On it was a purple Pokémon.

"This one? Really?" Froakie seemed shocked.

"Yes. This Pokémon needs to be eliminated by any means necessary. Now, go, before I change my mind about giving you one last chance."

Froakie nodded, and left the cave that the Shade Syndicate was using as a base.

This was his life. He was a natural born killer, although deep down he didn't like doing it. Secretly, he longed to live a normal life and have good friends. Unfortunately, in his line of work friendships weren't very common, or perhaps non-existent. Maybe after this job he would leave the Shade Syndicate and escape to some faraway place where Tyranitar could never find him again.

Maybe he would do that. For now, Froakie needed to focus on the job. He set off for his new destination, leaping from tree to tree. He only had to do this last job, and perhaps he could be free. Froakie smiled to himself.

 _Just one last job._


	4. Chapter 2: Changing the World

**_Chapter 2_**

Linoone the thief sped past Fennekin as Chespin held off his underlings, the Zigzagoon Brothers. Fennekin was doing her best to hit Linoone with her Ember attacks, but the thief was simply too fast.

"Fennekin, watch out!" Chespin called out, but it was too late for Fennekin to react. Linoone bashed into her with his head, knocking her down. Linoone sped off once again further into the depths of the Summery Woods, a Dungeon which was normally a peaceful area for rookie explorers to start off doing jobs, but now a haven of thieves or worse.

"You call yourself members of the Exploud Guild? You're pitiful!" One of the Zigzagoons laughed to his brother. Chespin snapped and cut them using his Razor Leaf attack. That shut those two fools up. He ran over to Fennekin.

"You all right?" he asked. She looked up at him.

"Of course I am. Why did you let those two thieving hooligans provoke you like that? They aren't even worth attacking!"

"They bad-mouthed our Guild! Any member of Exploud's Guild would take offence to that and do the same as I did!"

Fennekin sighed. "You are so hot-headed. Now, come on, let's bring these two idiots in and call it a day!"

" _What_?! But we haven't caught Linoone! The job said to bring Linoone to justice!"

"He's probably far away by now, dummy. Besides, we have his accomplices, and I'd say it wouldn't take Honedge too long to get these two to spill the beans about where their hideout is!"

Honedge was the Head of Interrogation at the Klinklang Police Station. He was an expert at his job and could make any criminal admit to their crimes.

"All right, then. Let's head home."  
The pair tied up the Zigzagoon brothers and used their Explorer Badges to warp home.

"Thank you, klink! Now we are one step further to bringing Linoone to justice, klang!"

"No worries, Sheriff Klinklang. We're just sorry we couldn't get Linoone himself."  
"Ah, don't worry about that, klink! He is one of the most elusive criminals in the area, klang!"

Fennekin didn't seem to be soothed by this reassuring by the Sheriff. She seemed to be blaming herself for Linoone getting away. Chespin could tell she was still shaken up by seeing Kecleon dead. Chespin promised himself he would try and help her once the Sheriff left.

On their way back home after collecting their rewards and leaving the Guild for another day, Chespin decided to take Fennekin down to the beach to try and cheer her up.

"Want to go to the beach and see the sunset?" Chespin asked. This was their after-work ritual, but they barely ever got to do it anymore.

Fennekin thought about her friend's offer for a minute. "Sure!" She replied, and so the two headed down to the beach.

When they got there, they saw that the sun was beginning to lower in the sky. They could see Goldeen and Finneon swimming in the water, and on the rocks Krabby were blowing bubbles, which reflected the beautiful rays of the sun, creating a peaceful atmosphere unlike anywhere else Chespin knew. This was his favourite place, and he was glad to be there with Fennekin.

"Lucario was right earlier," Chespin said. "Kecleon wouldn't want us being sad. He would want us to always be smiling, just like he and his brother were!"

Fennekin smiled, as if to prove Chespin's point. "I know. I just… Can't believe this world. I want to help change this world. That's why we joined the Guild, remember?"

Chespin thought back to when Fennekin was being attacked by an Ariados in the Apple Woods when they were on the hunt for Perfect Apples together. Chespin fought as hard as he could to protect her, but ended up getting injured. In the end, it was Lucario and Luxray who ended up saving both of them. Chespin thought they were amazing, and idolized the two heroes. He even became a member of the Guild after that in order to become as cool and powerful as them. Fennekin joined alongside him because she didn't want Chespin to have to protect her again, and felt the need to become strong and also look out for Chespin.

"Yeah… We need to become strong no matter what, to stop things like that from happening again. We'll keep doing jobs, and become as strong as Lucario and Luxray!" There was a fire of determination and hope in Chespin's eyes as he declared this to Fennekin.

Fennekin gave a slight chuckle. "Fat chance of us ever becoming as strong as our mentors. They're special."

This didn't cause Chespin to lose hope. "I believe in us! We'll train hard and become strong enough to help save this world! And once we do, we'll come back to this beach and watch the sunset _every day_!"

Fennekin thought to herself about Chespin's vivid fantasy of heroism and a peaceful world. It was nice, and she would love to be able to do this every day, but these times were tough, and she could only see them getting even tougher.

Nonetheless, Fennekin smiled at Chespin and agreed. "Yeah, Chespin! Once this world is peaceful again, we can really be happy!"

The thought of this amazed Fennekin. No Pokémon could be truly happy in this world, but if the Prophecy Lucario spoke about was true, the two of them would one day be able to live peaceful and happy lives.

"These Three Heroes had better come to this world pretty soon." Fennekin murmured. Despite herself, she was actually putting stock on the Prophecy. Cool, methodical Fennekin was actually hoping for the Three Heroes of Prophecy to come and save them. She almost laughed at herself.

Her idiot best friend, however, was avidly agreeing with this statement and rambling on about powerful Pokémon who would stop the violence and hatred between Pokémon.

Fennekin laughed to herself at Chespin's unwavering enthusiasm. He was truly one of those rare Pokémon with true spirit, and she had always admired him for it. Despite being reckless and foolish on occasion, he was an invaluable partner.

As they watched the sunset together, Chespin wished that every day could be like this. Then he remembered that every day _would_ be like this when the Three Heroes arrived to save them all. He and Fennekin talked and laughed some more, and Chespin could see his friend start to brighten up.

"Well, we'd better be going back now." Fennekin said.

"Yeah… Let's go," Chespin replied. And so they started to set off for home. Fennekin was still smiling. Only Chespin could have changed her mood so much after the events of that morning. She was so thankful to have him around during this turbulent time.

They parted ways at the crossroads just beside Treasure Town.

"See you tomorrow?" Chespin asked.

"You bet!" Fennekin answered cheerfully. The two went their separate ways, each feeling better about themselves thanks to their friend. That was the kind of friendship those two had. They both supported each other.

As Chespin headed for home, however, he witnessed a wanted poster on the outside of a shop.

"WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE: KECLEON"

"LAST SEEN HEADED TOWARDS THE MURKY WOODS"

Chespin stopped in his tracks. The manhunt- or perhaps the Pokémon hunt- for the purple Kecleon Brother had already begun. He remembered the rage he felt earlier towards the purple Kecleon. He needed to find this Pokémon and bring him in.

He thought about just showing the poster to Fennekin and getting her help, but Chespin felt like he needed to act _now_.

He decided that he would head for the Murky Woods that evening. He would be the one to bring the feral Kecleon to justice for the death of his friend.

 _We've never seen you two young explorers around town before. What're your names?_

 _Hello, Chespin and Fennekin! What can we get you today? We sell berries items, orbs and even TMs!_

 _Hey, Number 1 Customers! What can we get you two today?_

Chespin got angrier and angrier thinking of the memories he and Fennekin had shared with those two brothers. Now, because of this wretched world, that bond had been severed. He needed to stop Kecleon before his violence escalated even further and he killed even more innocent Pokémon.

For that reason, Chespin went home and prepared, and a few hours later set off towards the Murky Woods, where, little did he know, his life would begin to drastically change.


	5. Chapter 3: Encounter in the Murky Woods

**_Chapter 3_**

Froakie waded through a small river in the Murky Woods, concealing his presence in case of any potential attackers. He needed to be careful, as many feral Pokémon could be sensed around here. Despite being a very capable fighter, with powers already far beyond his evolutionary level, he was cautious as he didn't like getting his hands dirty apart from his targets. However, the Shade Syndicate endorsed murder like this fully, and many of Froakie's colleagues had over one hundred kills to their name, the majority of them civilians who weren't really related to the mission, but were just killed for the "pleasure" of it. Froakie had three hundred and six, but only targets. Three hundred and six successful missions had passed in the seven years since Froakie's induction into the Shade Syndicate. Froakie was a born killer. However, this new target of his was going to be his toughest kill yet.

He was making his way towards Treasure Town, and although he had only been travelling for a few hours, he had almost reached his destination. Four different dungeons lay between the Shade Syndicate base and Treasure Town, and Froakie had conquered three of them like a walk in the park. However, he was starting to get tired, and every breath became ragged.

"Just a little… Further…" He reassured himself, as the moonlight illuminated the shimmering pool he was crossing. The sound of Pokémon could be heard rustling in the dense, thick bushes. As he travelled, he thought about how he was going to carry out his mission and kill his target. A straight up, immediate murder was the optimum method, but he figured that caution may be needed for this one. If it was still night by the time he got to the town, maybe he would be able to catch the target off guard and kill them in their sleep. This was all that went through Froakie's mind as he traversed the Murky Woods.

Chespin, meanwhile, had thrown caution to the wind and was running as fast as he could through the Murky Woods, almost getting stuck in muddy water on numerous occasions. He needed to get to Kecleon quickly if he wanted to be back by tomorrow to bring in the criminal.

 _Is this really the right thing to do?_

Even now, Chespin questioned himself. He was not the kind of Pokémon to seek revenge, but then again he had never been put in this position before. He had a personal grudge against Kecleon, and more than anything else wanted his old friend to be stopped and brought into justice, saving him from himself.

"KECLEON!" Chespin shouted, the harsh sound waking the forest. "I KNOW YOU'RE HERE!"

Chespin didn't know why he was shouting, but it felt good as a way of taking out his rage, or at least somewhat.

He _had_ to do this. He was doing it for himself, Fennekin, the other Kecleon Brother and all the explorers of Treasure Town who had known and loved both brothers. He felt as though he was protecting both brothers' honour by doing this.

"KECLEON!" he shouted again. His voice was hoarse now.

Froakie heard cries echoing across the woods. Another seemingly non-feral Pokémon was here. What kind of civilised Pokémon went into Dungeons at night screaming for a shopkeeper? Froakie knew from his travels that Kecleon ran item shops in most towns across the world.

And then pure shock engulfed him as one of the very shopkeepers that Pokémon was calling for appeared before him. How did he not sense that? Froakie was ashamed of himself. Then he remembered the camouflage abilities of Kecleon. They could turn invisible, and hide their presence. This helped with the Security Unit of the Kecleon shopping chain, who used this ability to secretly hunt down and sneak up on customers who ran off without paying.

"Wh… What's going on?"

The Kecleon was purple in colouring. Froakie originally thought that his target had appeared due to the Kecleon's colour, but this wasn't the case. It looked feral, with sharp blade-like claws that were out of place for a Kecleon.

"KECLEON!" Froakie heard the calling once more, and so did the Kecleon. However, the chameleon Pokémon paid no notice to the sound.

"Kill… Must… Kill…" the Kecleon hissed.

Froakie sighed. He hated shedding the blood of random Pokémon, but this Kecleon was feral, and no longer just a normal Pokémon. It wouldn't think twice about killing Froakie, so he had to do the same.

"You can try!" Froakie said defiantly, and prepared for a fight.

Chespin ran deeper and deeper into the forest, knocking out any wild Pokémon that tried to attack him as he made his way through the Dungeon. These were not the Pokémon he was looking for. He thought of Fennekin, probably asleep by now, if she could even get to sleep after seeing the corpse of the green Kecleon Brother.

 _Where is he?! WHERE IS HE?!_

Chespin heard the sound of a fight. He ducked into some bushes, and tried to get a look at what was happening without being spotted by whoever was fighting.

There he was! The purple Kecleon, with an evil grin on his face, laughing. Next to him was a little blue Pokémon, knocked to the ground.

"You're not half bad at this…" the Pokémon said. The Kecleon just kept laughing.

"Time… To… KILL!"

As the Kecleon was about to finish off the little blue Pokémon, Chespin emerged and picked up the Kecleon using Vine Whip, catching the criminal in leafy tendrils.

"Who are you?!" The blue Pokémon asked.

"I'm Chespin. Right now… I think I'm about to save you." Chespin gave a reassuring grin to the mysterious Pokémon.

Chespin threw the Kecleon with the Vine Whip attack, knocking it unconscious. The purple Kecleon lay on the ground. Chespin had done it. That was quite easy.

"Why did you save me?" the Pokémon asked.

"I was searching for that Kecleon. He was my friend, but he turned feral and killed his brother. I'm part of Exploud's Guild, so it's part of my job to bring criminals like him to justice."

Recognition flashed on the blue Pokémon's face for a second. "Exploud's Guild?!"

Chespin looked puzzled. "Yeah, what's so bad about that?"

The blue Pokémon paused for a brief moment, and then spoke. "Nothing… It's just that I'm on my way there to become a member of that Guild! My name's Froakie, by the way."

Chespin smiled. "Froakie, eh? Awesome! It's always good to have a new Guild Member! So, what do you say we take this guy and get out of here! You can stay at my place tonight, and then in the morning we can go and sign you up at the Guild!"

Froakie was shocked that this Pokémon was being so kind and friendly towards someone he had just met. It made Froakie jealous, as he had never been able to be like this towards others, in spite of wanting to deep down. Still, this invitation to the Guild was perfect for his mission. Getting in good with the Guild members would make this job a lot easier to pull off. Still, he pushed thoughts of his mission aside, as he was somehow excited about Chespin being so extremely nice to him. He had never experienced this before.

Chespin used his Explorer Badge to warp himself and Froakie out of the Murky Woods, and they started to make their way back to Chespin's house.

"Thanks for saving me, Chespin." Froakie said with genuine thanks and gratitude. "If you hadn't arrived, that Kecleon would have killed me."

"No problem, Froakie! You need to be careful around here, though. There are so many bad Pokémon around that it's easy to be attacked like that. But times are going to change!" Chespin felt strange trusting Froakie so easily, but he began to tell Froakie all about he and Fennekin's dream of a peaceful world. Froakie felt something stir within himself hearing Chespin talk so enthusiastically about the Prophecy and whatnot.

"So what do you think, Froakie? Would you like to help Fennekin, me and all our friends at the Guild to restore peace?"

Froakie was flabbergasted at this question. He had only just met Chespin, but already Froakie was actually starting to like him and want to be around him. This was Froakie's first time experiencing this.

 _Just be cool… Don't seem too eager…_

"I would love to help! I'll do everything in my power to help you all make things right!"

Even Froakie himself was amazed by this. What was he doing? He was an assassin, for Arceus' sake! Assassins didn't make friends! Even so, this act may be a great way to carry out his mission. But was it really an act? Was Froakie just so cripplingly lonely that he wanted a _friend_ for once in his life?

 _Just one last job._

That thought snapped Froakie out of it, at least for now. He would make a new life for himself once this job was finished, and maybe even stand up for Tyranitar. But feelings within had let themselves out. He didn't want to do even one more job for that evil, ruthless psychopath who manufactured children into killing machines. He wanted to use his power for good. As he and Chespin approached Chespin's home, Froakie thought all of these things. Perhaps this w _as_ the gateway towards his new life.

Chespin left the tied-up, unconscious Kecleon outside in the cold. He wouldn't be moving any time soon. He and Froakie entered his house, into the warmth of the glowing fire.

"I'm glad we met Froakie. I'm glad I've saved a fellow Pokémon and made a new friend as a bonus."

Froakie smiled. "I really can't thank you enough, and look forward to working with you."

"Well, we'd better get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

"You're right! Goodnight, Chespin."

"Goodnight."

 _Just one last job…_

Froakie tried to suppress this thought as he tried to fall asleep, but try as he might, he couldn't.

 _One last job._


	6. Chapter 4: The Fox and the Thief

**Author's Note**

 **This new Chapter and the next will go into Chespin and Fennekin's backstory. Chapter 6 will hopefully resume the main story, and I plan to do a Chapter or two covering Froakie's story when I think it is appropriate. Also, if you have any questions or thoughts about the story, leave it in a review down below and I'll respond in the Author's Notes of future chapters. Chapters will be coming daily (or at least I'll try) now that summer has started where I live. Anyway, that's it for now. Enjoy Chapter 4 of the Three Fated Heroes.**

 ** _Chapter 4_**

When she went home that night, Fennekin began to think about the first time she and Chespin ever met.

It was about five years ago, and Fennekin had just moved to Treasure Town, as at this time she was very ill and frail, and she felt that going to Treasure Town for fresh air and a clean, pollution-free environment might help her health to improve. She never could have imagined the wonders that the move was going to bring to her health, as well as just her life in itself.

She moved into a little house in town, but found it hard to leave her house for the first few months. Imagine her surprise when one day a Pokémon came running into her house asking to hide.

"Please, can I hide in your house?" Chespin asked frantically, although he had already entered. Fennekin was surprised to see a visitor, as only a few townspeople even knew she lived there because of never leaving her home.

"Why? Who are you and what's going on?" Fennekin felt dizzy just seeing this energetic Pokémon.

"I'm Chespin, I live around here! I ran off without paying the Kecleon Brothers! It's not my fault, I donated all my money towards the Guild Expedition!"

Fennekin was shocked. "Guild?"

"Yeah! The Exploud Guild for Exploration! I'm not a member, but they do good work so I donated everything I had… Anyway, can I hide here?"

Fennekin begrudgingly nodded, and the pair spent the rest of that afternoon talking. Fennekin found herself smiling and laughing at Chespin's stories

"So, you're Fennekin… I heard about you from the townspeople. They say you're ill or something…" Chespin paused when he heard an ominous knock at the door. Fennekin answered it, hoping that it wasn't another Pokémon looking to hide in her house, as one overly-energetic one was enough for her.

It was the Kecleon Brothers. They had angry looks on their faces.

"We're looking for that fool Chespin!" The first brother said.

"He'd better pay up right now or we'll get Officer Magnezone to deal with him!"  
Chespin stepped out to face the brothers.

"Yeah, I'm here. I'm sorry, but I don't have the money right now."

"That's not good enough! Pay up! Stealing is wrong, Chespin! I know you're our friend but this is ridiculous!"

Chespin grew annoyed, and Fennekin seemed to be thinking about something.

"I don't know how to solve this because I don't have the money and I don't have the berries either because I ate them already!"

"It's all right!" Fennekin shouted, stopping the grumbling from the two Kecleon Brothers and silencing Chespin's pleas for forgiveness.

"I'll give you the money… It's the least I can do for Chespin, as he brightened my mood and kept me entertained all afternoon."

Chespin looked shocked. "Are you sure?"

Fennekin looked at him and gave a cool smile. "You bet!"

When she gave the money to the two shopkeepers, they warned Chespin that stealing was wrong one more time.

"You won't always have other Pokémon to rely on, Chespin. You need to remember that." The brothers looked at him sternly.

Chespin nodded, ashamed of himself for making Fennekin, who he had only known for a few hours, pay for his wrongdoings. "I'm sorry, guys. It won't happen again."

When the Kecleon Brothers left, Chespin turned to Fennekin.

"I know what I'll do to repay you for that!"

Fennekin looked at him blankly. "What? But… I was repaying _you_ for giving me company this afternoon! That's why I paid for you, silly!" She started to giggle.

Chespin grew flustered. "My company isn't worth twenty Poké! Listen, I know this medicinal berry that grows in the woods around here that may be able to help with your illnesses! I'll bring you some every day!"

Fennekin was amazed at Chespin's kindness.

"You'd really do that for me?" Fennekin asked disbelievingly, "But you've already done enough for me. I can't let you go out of your way to do that."

"Who cares? I'm going to do it, and you can't stop me! If it wasn't for you, I'd probably get sent off to prison!"

Fennekin laughed. "That's true. You seem reckless and kind of an idiot, but you've got a big heart. Thanks so much for offering to do this."

"No problem! Wow, it's getting late, so I'd better be going. I'll see you tomorrow!" Chespin gave her one last dazzling smile, and left.

Fennekin was so happy. She had made a new friend at last! Chespin had lifted her spirits so much already, and she felt indebted to him…

As the months and years passed, Fennekin began feeling a lot better, both physically and mentally. Chespin was the one who made her feel better, and she still wanted to be friends with him and spend time together no matter what. Being around him meant that she soon adopted his own dream of becoming a great explorer. After the day they were saved by Lucario and Luxray, they both got serious about this dream, and started training to become part of the Guild. Three years ago, and exactly two years after they met, Chespin and Fennekin decided to go and request to become members of the Guild.

In the older days, the Guild also acted as a home for members, and they ate and slept there. Now, since Exploud became Guildmaster, it had been seriously remodelled, its underground structure altered, creating new facilities including a Training Dojo ran by the triplets named Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee and Hitmontop. The duo of Drillbur and Excadrill were in charge of security and sentry duty. Many other jobs had changed in the Guild since the days of the Wigglytuff Guild, as many members had moved on to bigger and better things.

That day, Chespin and Fennekin were speaking with the Kecleon Brothers about how they were about to go up and ask to join the Guild.

"Yeah! You guys will definitely get accepted, I've never seen a pair with a greater connection than you two! Well, maybe apart from Luxray and Lucario…" The green Kecleon Brother said.

"Yeah… I remember when those two joined the Guild. Of course, they were just Shinx and Riolu back then. They evolved by working at the Guild and becoming stronger, just like you two are gonna do!" The purple Brother added.

"Yeah, guys, we know what evolution is!" Fennekin laughed, and began to picture herself as a mighty and powerful giant fox Pokémon when she evolved.

"Maybe I'll be Fire and Fighting type… Boy, wouldn't that be amazing…"  
"NO!" The two Kecleon Brothers and Chespin shouted almost simultaneously. If you follow those "main series" Pokémon games, you'd know why.

Chespin snapped her out of her daydream.

"Hey, Fennekin, I can't wait any longer! Let's go!"

"Good luck!" The Kecleon Brothers said, once more in unison.

"Thanks, Kecleon Brothers! We'll see you later, once we're explorers!"

Fennekin and Chespin headed off towards Exploud's Guild in high spirits, for this would hopefully be the day they became explorers.

"Footprint detected! Footprint detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

Drillbur couldn't make out the name that his father shouted up the tunnel at him.

"Sorry, what was that?"

At the end of the tunnel, below the footprint grate where Pokémon seeking entry to the Guild stood to be checked by the sentries, Excadrill stood yelling "THE FOOTPRINT IS CHESPIN'S! AND THERE'S ANOTHER… IT'S FENNEKIN'S! SHEESH, WHY DOESN'T THE GUILDMASTER DO THIS JOB ANYMORE?! HE HAS THE LOUDEST VOICE I'VE EVER HEARD! MY THROAT IS KILLING ME! OPEN THE GATES, SON!"

Drillbur heard his father. "Okay, Dad! I'm opening the gates!"

Fennekin and Chespin grinned at each other as they were allowed entry into the Guild.

"You ready?" Chespin asked.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Fennekin answered.

Together they took their first-ever steps into Exploud's Guild, where they would hopefully be accepted to become explorers…


	7. Chapter 5: The Guild's New Recruits

**Author's Note: I haven't been writing in a few days, so this chapter is going up a few days after the last. Anyway, this one concludes Chespin and Fennekin's backstory. I was originally going to have them do a test of some kind to see if they would be accepted to the Guild, but decided against it. Also, this chapter is quite short as not much really happens in this part of the flashback, and it's basically just the same as the scene from Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky when the main characters go and request to join the Guild. Anyway, enjoy Chapter 5 of the Three Fated Heroes!**

 ** _Chapter 5_**

Exploud's Guild was as loud and bustling as Chespin had expected, so naturally he was in his element as soon as he walked through the doors with Fennekin.

"Woah! Fennekin, look! It's Bibarel! I heard he once met the Mythical Pokémon Jirachi! Isn't that cool? Isn't it?"

Fennekin shrugged. She had seen Bibarel around town before, but he paled in comparison to Lucario or Luxray, the two greatest heroes Treasure Town had ever known. Besides, they had met _multiple_ Legendary and Mythical Pokémon, but Fennekin didn't have time to make this point, as Lucario had appeared beside them.

"Ah, it's you two. Here to ask to join the Guild, I presume?"

Chespin's eyes gleamed with excitement and wonder. "Yeah, we are! How'd you know?"

Lucario gave a wry smile. "I know a pair of budding young explorers when I see one. I was like you two as well once, you know." His eyes grew misty and he seemed to be reminiscing about his past. An awkward silence followed.

"So… Can we meet the Guildmaster?" Fennekin asked.

Lucario snapped out of his musings. "Ah, yes, yes! Let's go right away!"

As they headed down to the Guildmaster's quarters, Chespin's head whirled in every direction as he saw many famous explorers that he knew and idolised, and took in every detail of the Guild. After all, if they weren't accepted, this would probably be the last time he saw the inside of the Guild.

Lucario thought to himself about these two new recruits.

 _They seem to have grown quite a bit since we first met that time in Apple Woods. Especially Fennekin… She has a different look in her eyes than she did before…_

It was true. Fennekin, who when Lucario first met seemed to be nervous and unsure of herself, now had a look of true determination. She _wanted_ to join the Guild, and wasn't doing it just for Chespin's dreams. She herself now dreamed of becoming stronger. Seeing that in another Pokémon made Lucario happy.

They came to a large doorway, and Chespin's calls of recognition at passing explorers soon faded as he realised that they were reaching Exploud's quarters. Were the rumours about Exploud true? Was he really as angry and harsh towards new recruits as townspeople always said?

Lucario knocked on the door. "Guildmaster, there are two Pokémon out here who wish to join our Guild."

There was a pause for a moment, then: "SEND THEM IN!"

The deafening shout blasted Chespin and Fennekin's eardrums. Chespin covered his ears and felt dizzy at the sheer magnitude of that sound.

Lucario turned to see their fearful faces and smiled reassuringly. "He has a loud voice, but you'll get used to it! I remember when Luxray and I lived here in the Guild we got woke up every morning by that voice!"

Fennekin looked aghast. How could anyone's ears survive that blasting call every morning? She wondered how Lucario hadn't gone deaf.

"Go on in. I'll wait outside." Lucario smiled at them. "Good luck, explorers."

A hulking purple figure with holes in his back like speakers greeted them with an unnatural-looking smile. Chespin noticed a faint scar on the Guildmaster's cheek, and had to stop himself from immediately asking where he got it.

"HELLO!" Exploud yelled. "SO, YOU TWO WANT TO JOIN THE GUILD?!"

Neither Chespin nor Fennekin spoke for a few moments, as they were slightly intimidated by Exploud. Chespin then remembered his dream of growing ever stronger, and spoke up.

"Yessir! We want to form a team and do jobs to grow stronger and stronger!" Chespin had that fire in his eyes that he always had when talking about their goal.

Fennekin then decided she'd better speak, too. "What Chespin meant to say was that we'd be really honoured to join this esteemed Guild, and-"

"QUIET!" Exploud bellowed. He then gave a hearty laugh. "SORRY, I WAS JUST KIDDING. I LOVE SCARING NEWBIES!" He laughed once more. Fennekin was confused, but Chespin had started laughing too.

"YOU TWO SEEM LIKE YOU'VE GOT MASSIVE POTENTIAL, AND I DON'T SAY THAT OFTEN. YOUR NAMES ARE CHESPIN AND FENNEKIN, RIGHT? I REMEMBER LUXRAY RAVING ABOUT YOU TWO WHEN HE FIRST MET YOU. CHESPIN, HE SAID HE'D NEVER SEEN SUCH BRAVERY IN SUCH A SMALL POKÉMON! AND FENNEKIN, HE SAID HE'D NEVER SEEN SUCH A COOL-HEADED, QUICK-THINKING POKÉMON! AND THAT'S COMING FROM THE SILENT WARRIOR OF EXPLOUD'S GUILD _HIMSELF_!"

Chespin grew excited hearing the praise that Luxray had given them.

Fennekin was also pleased despite herself. "Luxray humours us with those insurmountably kind words-"

"HEY! STOP TALKING LIKE THAT! WE DON'T NEED ANY FORMALITIES AROUND HERE! THIS GUILD IS A FAMILY, AND YOU DON'T NEED TO USE SUCH BIG WORDS AROUND ME! POKÉMON LIKE THAT BORE ME, AND I SURE AS HELL DON'T WANT ANY BORING POKÉMON JOINING MY GUILD! ARE YOU BORING, FENNEKIN?"

Fennekin was taken aback by Exploud's words, but didn't show it. "Um… No, I'm not, Guildmaster."  
"GOOD! WELCOME ABOARD, THEN!"

"What, really, it's that easy?" Chespin and Fennekin looked to each other with wide and happy eyes.

"YES! YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY, THE MORE THE MERRIER! YOU JUST HAVE TO KNOW ONE THING, THOUGH…"

"What's that?"

"THERE ARE SO MANY BAD POKÉMON IN THIS WORLD. THESE POKÉMON ARE THE VERY POKÉMON YOU MAY BE SENT TO BRING TO JUSTICE OR EVEN _ANNIHILATE_ , BUT OF COURSE THAT'S ONLY IN EXTREME CASES. BY JOINING THIS GUILD, YOU ARE PUTTING YOUR LIVES AT RISK FOR THE GOOD OF THE AREA AROUND THIS TOWN, AS WELL AS FOR THE WHOLE WORLD ITSELF. ARE BOTH OF YOU CLEAR ON THIS?"

"Yessir!" Chespin and Fennekin said in unison. Happiness and pride flushed in Fennekin's heart. They'd made it! They were going to become Explorers!

"IN THAT CASE… WELCOME TO EXPLOUD'S EXPLORATION GUILD! ENJOY YOUR TIME WORKING HERE, AND BE SURE TO DO A GOOD JOB!"

Despite having horribly aching ears, the two young explorers were over the Lunatone, so to speak.

"We did it!" Chespin shouted. "We're explorers!"

Chespin and Fennekin were then given a tour of the facilities, and got to meet quite a few of the explorers Chespin recognised earlier. Tomorrow, their arrival would be officially announced to the entire Guild. They were given supplies such as Explorer Badges and a Treasure Bag, and it was about three hours since they entered the Guild that the two new explorers were going to leave.

"Goodbye!" Chespin and Fennekin said to Exploud and Lucario.

"SEE YOU TOMORROW!" Exploud boomed.

"Guildmaster, try to keep it down, or you'll deafen them! You remember what happened with Elder Claydol, right?"

"YEAH! I DEAFENED THE OLD COOT! BUT HE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE ANY EARS ANYWAY SO HOW COULD HE HEAR IN THE FIRST PLACE?!"

The two laughed at this.

"So, do you really think they have potential?" Lucario asked.

Guildmaster Exploud's voice lowered, and sounded sincerely honest. He glanced at Lucario.

"I think they're just what this Guild needs."


	8. Chapter 6: Lucario and Luxray's Mission

_Chapter 6_

 **A/N- It's been a very long time, but** ** _Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Three Fated Heroes_** **has returned. I've been very lazy, but I have decided to give this story another shot and start updating it again. Also, please check out my original story,** ** _The Squad_** **, over on FictionPress (My username is the same as on this site). Enjoy Chapter 6!**

"Thank you, Chespin, klink! You successfully brought the murdering Kecleon Brother to justice, klang! But… When did you do it, klink? And who is this Pokémon with you, klang?"

Sherriff Klinklang looked Froakie up and down.

"My name's Froakie," he said shyly.

Chespin immediately started to speak for Froakie. "I tracked him down last night! Froakie's my new friend, and he's gonna join the Guild today! Isn't that right, Froakie?"

Froakie nodded, bowled over by Chespin's massive enthusiasm for his work and life in general.

"Good luck today to both of you, klink! And Froakie, I look forward to working with you, klang!"

Froakie smiled, a genuinely happy smile. Although uncertain whether he should be this optimistic, he had resolved to push thoughts of Tyranitar and the Shade Syndicate and assassination out of his mind, and think of this as a new beginning. Froakie knew in the bottom of his heart that Tyranitar and the rest of the Shade Syndicate definitely would not allow this, but he decided to make the most of this time and not worry about anything.

Chespin and Froakie left the police station and made their way to Treasure Town, where Chespin would introduce Froakie to all his friends in town.

Meanwhile, at a quite far-off, isolated area known as Lunar Island, the Pokémon known as Cresselia awoke from a very dangerous premonition if it were to prove real.

The vision she saw entailed the attack of Arceus the Creator by the mysterious Pokémon known as Darkrai. Darkrai then planned to attack Lunar Island and kill Cresselia herself, who was Arceus' former student and comrade.

"How _dare_ he plunge my Master into a Realm of Nightmare… Just who does he think he is, trying to gain power over the entire world and destroy all who oppose him? I shall fight against this foolish cretin!"

Her most highly-esteemed followers, Munna and Musharna, grew worried at the mistress' decision to go into battle after she told them about her strange vision.

"Mistress Cresselia, haven't you always said that conflict just breeds more hatred? You were wise to say that, so would you just throw caution to the wind and potentially be killed by Darkrai just by making a rash decision? We need to _plan_ , Mistress Cresselia!"

Cresselia sighed. "I'm certain that you are right, my most loyal allies. But I fear that Darkrai's forces will be arriving here at Lunar Island very soon. We must rally our forces and defend this place with our lives when the time comes."

"Will only the Pokémon on this island be enough? You know more than anyone, my lady, that the Pokémon here are peace-loving pacifists."

Cresselia's brow furrowed and she began to consider this fact. "Hmmm… Send for help from Exploud's Guild. They are the only Pokémon I trust to give us assistance, as the great heroes Lucario and Luxray hail from that Guild."

Musharna nodded. "I will send a help request to them posthaste, Mistress."

"Thank you, Musharna. And you as well, Munna. I am exceedingly grateful to all of my allies. A storm is coming, my friends, and I have faith that together we can get through it."

Musharna and Munna left Cresselia's quarters.

 _Darkrai…_ Cresselia thought, _We cannot let his evil purge this world…_

"FIRST THING'S FIRST, I WOULD LIKE TO WELCOME OUR NEWEST GUILD MEMBER, FROAKIE! HE'S A FRIEND OF CHESPIN'S, SO LET'S MAKE HIM FEEL WELCOME IN OUR RANKS!"

Chespin looked around as there was a large round of applause across the room. Fennekin was standing at one side of him. She had initially been angry at him for going behind her back and tracking down Kecleon, but had forgiven him soon. She could empathise with how he felt and could understand why he did what he did. Still, Fennekin was a bit hurt when Chespin had arrived at the Guild with this new Pokémon who he had quite obviously formed a very quick friendship with. She decided to keep these feelings to herself, as they were petty and foolish. Of course her faithful friend Chespin would never replace her. Their bond would last forever.

Froakie's eyes shifted from Pokémon to Pokémon. He was worried that one of them might recognise him as a member of the Shade Syndicate, but so far his luck had held.

 _None of them can know my past if I'm going to make a future here for myself… Chespin's so nice and kind-natured he probably wouldn't even care… Should I really be using him like this? No, I'm not using him, I was telling the truth when I said I wanted to join this Guild… I hate the Shade Syndicate and Tyranitar…_

"MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION?" Exploud's booming voice rang out. Many pairs of eyes looked to him, standing there with a proud look on his face at Froakie, which soon turned to a frown that told Froakie that they were about to hear some bad news.

"IT IS WITH A HEAVY HEART THAT I MUST INFORM YOU OF SOME RATHER… _TERRIBLE_ NEWS. YOU ALL MAY KNOW OF THE OUTBREAK OF FERAL POKÉMON?"

There was a collective nod and mutters of agreement from across the hall of the Guild.

"WELL RECENTLY THAT ISSUE ROSE TO A NEW EXTREME. OUR SUPREME LORD, ARCEUS THE CREATOR, WAS ATTACKED RECENTLY BY AN UNKNOWN POKÉMON CALLING HIMSELF DARKRAI, WHO USED HIS MYSTERIOUS POWERS TO PLUNGE OUR DEITY INTO A NIGHTMARE REALM. NOW, I KNOW THIS NEWS MAY BE UNSETTLING, BUT I HAVE SOME GOOD NEWS FOR YOU, TOO. I HAVE ASKED TWO OF OUR NUMBER TO GO ON A RESCUE MISSION TO THE HALL OF LIGHT, THE CREATOR'S HOME, TO CONFRONT DARKRAI AND RESCUE ARCEUS. THESE TWO POKÉMON… ARE LUCARIO AND LUXRAY, OUR GUILD'S GREATEST HEROES."

Chespin tried his best to absorb what he had just heard. He had audibly gasped when Exploud had mentioned the contents of Chespin's dream the night before last. Fennekin had given him a look, and he glanced back as if to say "I'll tell you later." The revelation of Lucario and Luxray going to face Darkrai panicked Chespin. He had seen Darkrai in his dream, and had felt an aura of fearsome power around him. He was worried that his two friends would suffer the same fate as Arceus the Creator had if they tried to fight Darkrai. Apparently, other Guild members knew this too, and had no qualms with admitting it.

"Lucario and Luxray could _die_ , don't you see that?!"

"You want them to just throw their lives away?"

"They're our precious friends and workmates!"

Chespin wasn't surprised to hear that the last voice had been Fennekin's. She was almost crying, and looked outraged that the Guildmaster would even _consider_ sending Lucario and Luxray off to the Hall of Light alone.

Lucario quickly moved to where Exploud was.

"Now, I know some of you might be worried about us, and that's so touching," he said, "but the Guildmaster tried to _stop_ us from going off to fight Darkrai at the Hall of Light. Luxray and I made this decision _ourselves_ when we heard about the attack."

The crowd quietened. Lucario was a figure of high authority in the Guild, and he and Luxray had become extremely well-respected throughout their time at the Guild. Murmurs of acceptance filled the crowd.

"WITH THAT ALL CLEARED UP…" Exploud bellowed, "YOU ARE ALL FREE TO GO ABOUT YOUR MISSIONS TODAY!"

As the crowd dispersed, Chespin made his way towards Lucario and Luxray.

"Guys…" he began, "I just wanted to say, on behalf of me, Fennekin and Froakie too… Good luck. Please come back alive. This world… _Needs_ you both."

Both Pokémon smiled gratefully.

"Chespin, thank you so much. We will try our best on this mission, and we will see you when we get back." Lucario gave him a wink.

"Now, don't you have your new friend's first mission to attend to?" Luxray smiled wryly.

Chespin smiled back at his friend. "I sure do! Goodbye, guys!"

Chespin ran back to Fennekin and Froakie, eager to get out and do his part for the Pokémon world.


	9. Chapter 7: Froakie's First Mission

_Chapter 7_

Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie made their way through the Winding Plains, chatting happily as they went. Fennekin and Froakie seemed to be getting along very well, and Chespin was over the moon to see this. Chespin was grateful to Fennekin for not minding having Froakie join their exploration team as their third member.

The team's first mission since Froakie joined them was to track down and capture Linoone, who had escaped the day before. Honedge the interrogation expert had gotten the location of his secret hiding area from his Zigzagoon cohorts, and now the team were heading there to finish what they had started.

Before they had left, Lucario and Luxray had said their goodbyes to the Guild before setting off to the Hall of Light. Chespin was going to miss his mentor figures, and was extremely worried about them going to face Darkrai, but still had every faith that both team members would come back alive. They had been the heroes behind the Time Gear incident, so heroism was second nature to them by now.

Froakie had seemed all right with taking on a mission that Chespin and Fennekin had previously failed. When Fennekin had suggested that they try once more to bring Linoone to justice, their new team member had simply nodded and smiled confidently. Chespin hoped that his friend wouldn't get injured on his first mission.

"I can feel it!" Fennekin called out from ahead of Chespin and Froakie. "We're getting very close!"

Chespin's heart began to beat faster and faster, as it always did during intense missions like this. Linoone was a hardened criminal, not like the feral Pokémon who just randomly killed. He probably knew they were coming, and that might mean…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! CHESPIN, FROAKIE!"

Chespin turned a corner to see Fennekin in the middle of a circle of Zigzagoon. Linoone was at the forefront of the group, with a cunning smile on his face.

 _Blast! It was a trap! I should have warned Fennekin before she got ahead! Now she's in danger…"_

"Chespin, we meet again. Oh, and who do we have here? A new friend?"

Froakie gazed at the head criminal with disdain, causing him to laugh.

"Ooh, I'm so _terrified_. You think dirty looks can faze me? Little rookie heroes like you are what's wrong with this world! My gang and I will have your head in a minute, you coward!"

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK TO FROAKIE LIKE THAT!" Chespin went to charge at Linoone, but Froakie held him back. Pure hatred was in his eyes now.

"Listen, you third-rate wannabe criminal. I will be your downfall. I've seen far worse Pokémon than you and faced them down, and I'm still here to tell the tale. What do you think makes you any different? Now, I advise you to get away from my friend, or we'll have to fight."

Linoone looked around at his gang and they all erupted into a chorus of laughter. They began to circle Fennekin. Fear was in her eyes, but then they quickly turned to steely determination.

"Either of you move," Linoone threatened, "and Little Miss Hero here will get butchered."

"Guys, you need to fight them! Don't worry about what they'll do to me!"

Chespin looked at Froakie and nodded.

They both moved at the same second, launching Vine Whip and Bubble attacks at Linoone and his gang.

Linoone roared. "Get 'em, boys! I want three heroes dead on the ground!"

The fight was long and difficult. Froakie and Chespin charged at the large gang of Zigzagoons while Fennekin fought them from inside the circle they'd made around her. Linoone grew angry as Chespin and his friends sent his gang members sprawling on the ground.

"Good job, guys! Keep fighting!" Chespin encouraged his team mates.

He had to admire the way Froakie fought. He was so agile and powerful at the same time, weaving his way through the crowd of enemies, sending them hurtling away one by one, making his way to the centre of the group, where their main target was. His water type moves were powerful, and perfectly complimented those of Chespin and Fennekin. They were already shaping up to be an excellent team.

"Don't even try and fight me, rookies!" Linoone growled.

Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie had defeated most of the Zigzagoons. Linoone advanced on Fennekin from behind and clawed at her. Fennekin yelled in pain. She had tried to avoid the attack, but Linoone was extremely fast, which was the reason he had evaded capture and remained at large for so long.

Chespin shouted, "Don't you _dare_ hurt my friend!" and charged at Linoone. Linoone effortlessly moved out of the way, sending Chespin crashing into a nearby tree in the expansive grasslands the fight was taking place in. This was a bad place for a fight with Linoone, as he had so much space to move around.

"Chespin, are you all right?!" Fennekin gasped.

Chespin gave her a grim smile as he got to his feet. "Yeah… I'm fine…"

Chespin rubbed his head, which was searing with raw pain after colliding with the tree. Linoone laughed, then turned his attention back to Froakie and Fennekin.

"You two expect to capture me with _that_ idiot around? I mean, _you're_ fast and powerful," he looked to Froakie, "and _you're_ intelligent and a capable fighter!" he looked at Fennekin. "Just what does that one have? Nothing! You saw what happened there! It was so obvious that I was going to move out of the way! He's _nothing_! He's in no way cut out to be an explorer!"

Fennekin rushed at him, and this time her attack made contact. The Fury Swipes attack slashed at Linoone, and he yelled and swiped his paw at Fennekin, sending her falling backwards.

From the ground, Fennekin growled, "Don't talk to him like that. He's going to be a great hero one day, and what are _you_? You're just a cowardly criminal."

She got back up and spat Ember at him. He roared with pure rage.

"I'M DONE PLAYING GAMES WITH YOU CHILDREN!"

Froakie laughed mockingly. "You talk that way about Chespin, but you let rookie explorers get under your skin? I think _you're_ the only fool around here. Chespin, Fennekin, let's finish this!"

The three of them unleashed an attack at Linoone. He evaded most of Chespin's Razor Leaves and Froakie's Bubbles, but then was hit head-on by Fennekin's Flamethrower when trying to dodge the others' attacks.

"You… Fools… This isn't the end… You'll get what you deserve… I'm sure of it…"

Linoone gave a final pitiful growl, and then passed out.

Chespin and his friends smiled at each other excitedly. They'd done it! Their first ever mission as a three-Pokémon team had went extremely well. Chespin felt happiness surge through him as he saw the smile on his friend Froakie's face, and flushed with pride. He remembered when he and Fennekin had completed their first mission, and he knew that it was the best feeling a Guild member could ever have.

"Let's go home, guys." Fennekin said, "We have celebrating to do!"

After they used their Explorer Badges to return to Treasure Town and turned in Linoone to Sherriff Klinklang, they and many other Guild members had a celebratory feast for Froakie.

"CONGRATULATIONS TO FROAKIE!" Exploud bellowed. "HE IS NOW AN OFFICIAL MEMBER OF THIS GUILD, HAVING NOW CAPTURED HIS FIRST OUTLAW! WELL DONE FROAKIE!"

 _So this is what it's like to have someone be proud of you_ , Froakie thought to himself. _It feels great._

Froakie then stood up from his own seat. "I just want to thank Chespin and Fennekin for letting me join their team and helping me through that mission!"

"No sweat, Froakie! Here's to more successful missions for our team!" Fennekin smiled. Beside her, Chespin was lost in thought.

 _It's really_ them _that helped_ me… Chespin thought, recalling his blunder during the mission. _It was Froakie's first job, but he fought so bravely and was so powerful… Am I really the failure Linoone said I am?_

Fennekin seemed to notice that his mind was far away from the banquet hall of the Guild, and tapped him.

"You okay?" she asked.

He looked back at her with a fake smile. "Yeah, I'm fine." Then he got up from his seat. "I think I'll just have an early night."

"Yeah, it was a long day," she smiled understandingly. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

After saying goodnight to everyone and thanking them for the feast and celebration, Chespin went to bed. He tossed and turned for a while, gazing out at the moon and trying to get to sleep.

 _I have to be strong, especially during these times. Lucario and Luxray are off and no-one knows how long it'll be before they come back, so this Guild needs a hero in their stead! I will never attack in a blind rage and put my friends in danger again…_

With new resolve, Chespin drifted into sleep, to get ready for whatever the days ahead had in store for he and his friends.

 **A/N: So, that was Chapter 7. This Chapter probably isn't the best I've written, but I tried to get as much development as I could for the three protagonists as they were on the mission, and during the subsequent celebrations. I know the Chapters are short, but that's just how I like to do them. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed Chapter 7, and stay tuned for Chapter 8 as well as my other new fanfic,** ** _Soul of a Hero_** **.**


	10. Chapter 8: Slowpoke's Request

_Chapter 8_

Darkrai watched the world from the Hall of Light, smiling to himself at what he saw. So many Pokémon were turning to his cause as his allies went from place to place, recruiting new powerful allies to the fold.

Far away, he saw Lunar Island. His counterpart, Cresselia, the very Pokémon he had been born from, was readying herself for the invasion a small group of his followers would soon mount. Meowstic, Rhydon and Pyroar were the three leaders of this attack, and Darkrai had every faith in them. The most important thing for a leader to have was trust in his foot soldiers.

Cresselia was a necessary trouble to deal with. If she was left for too long, she would regain much of her power taken from her when Darkrai was born, unbeknownst to her. The sooner she was placed in the Nightmare Realm with her master Arceus, the better. Once she was gone, virtually no Pokémon would be able to stand in Darkrai's way. He was far superior to those three fools, the Swords of Justice. All other self-proclaimed "legendary" Pokémon took nothing to do with the rest of the world, and just slumbered peacefully in their respective domains. Soon this world would belong to Darkrai.

 _All Pokémon will bow to me…_ he thought to himself with malice, _and those who do not will die…_

"What job do you guys think we should take today?" Asked Froakie, as he, Chespin and Fennekin stood at the request board, examining the notices.

Fennekin pointed at one. "Look at this one!"

Chespin and Froakie saw where she was pointing, and began to read.

 _Dear Guild hero(s):_

 _I come to you asking for help. I need a strong Pokémon to escort me through the Hollow Canyon, as I am far too weak to get through there myself. It is absolutely vital that I reach there in time, as there is someone I must talk to who lives on the other side of the Canyon. This is a very dangerous task, so I would preferably like a team to help me get through the Canyon._

 _Thank you in advance, Slowpoke_

Slowpoke was an aspiring explorer who showed up at the Guild sometimes. He often spent so long staring at the request board trying to figure out which job he should do that it was almost the end of the day before he finally decided, and by that time the job had already been done by another Pokémon. He was a very nice Pokémon, though, and Chespin counted him among his good friends.

Chespin looked back at Fennekin. "That job does sound good, but it's quite a long way to get to the Hollow Canyon, and it's very dangerous there. I wonder who's so important for Slowpoke to talk to… Do you really think we should try and help Slowpoke get through?"

Froakie seemed to be weighing the dangers in his head. He finally spoke, "I think we're up for it! After all, we make an excellent team, remember?"

Chespin smiled. "Okay, then, we'll take the job! Let's split up to make preparations, then we'll head off in about thirty minutes! I'll go and look for Slowpoke!"

Fennekin and Froakie nodded, and the three of them went their separate ways.

In a cluster of bushes behind the old Kecleon shop, a pair of eyes watched as a blue Pokémon stood at Kangaskhan's Depository, withdrawing some items.

 _That's one of them_ , the Pokémon thought. _They must be heading out on a job. I'd better round up the gang, so we can tail 'em…_

The Pokémon then laughed to himself, and then silently cursed himself for making a sound.

Froakie stared at the bush for a second as he passed. Did he really just hear a bush laugh? He thought about investigating it, then remembered that he had to head for the meeting spot. He sighed at himself for thinking a bush could talk, and then headed onwards.

 _That was_ so _close…_ the Pokémon thought. When the coast was clear, the large pink Pokémon with sharp tusks and beady eyes emerged from the bushes. He then went off to alert his gang that the targets were moving.

"Er… Hi, Chespin and Fennekin. This must be your new friend, er… Froakie, was it?"

"Yes," Froakie said, "It's nice to meet you, Slowpoke. You're in capable hands on your trip through the canyon, I assure you. If trouble does arise, we'll do everything in our power to protect you."

"Er… Thanks, Froakie! It really, er… Puts my mind at ease, knowing that someone will be on this journey with me, protecting me!"

Froakie smiled. "Happy to help!"

Chespin admired Froakie's kindness towards Slowpoke, whom he had just met. He was proud of how his friend was so determined to help this Pokémon in need.

"Well, then, shall we get this show on the road?" Fennekin asked with a wide smile on her face.

"Er… Yeah! Let's go… Through, er… Where are we going again?"

"Hollow Canyon, Slowpoke." Chespin said.

"Oh yeah! There…" Slowpoke muttered blankly. All four of them then started to laugh, and set off from Treasure Town to start their journey.

Meanwhile, two other friends were on a journey of their own. Lucario and Luxray had been through dungeon after dungeon, facing countless powerful Pokémon on their journey to the Hall of Light.

"This brings back memories," Lucario said between gasps. They had been travelling for hours without rest, and had already come so far from home. Dark clouds spread on the horizon, giving their journey an air of ominousness.

"Memories? Of what?" Luxray asked.

"All our old adventures. Remember that time we went to the future?"

"Yeah… It was so scary, we almost died so many times. Remember when we had old Dusknoir and all those Sableye on our tail?"

Lucario laughed. "Yeah… But everything did turn out all right in the end."

Luxray looked at him confusedly. "Are you kidding? We haven't seen Grovyle _or_ Dusknoir since then! We could use their help if they were still around, given the situation lately."

Lucario's brow furrowed, thinking of Grovyle, his old partner who had recruited him to help him gather the Time Gears. They had been best friends, even though one was a human and the other a Pokémon.

"Do you think they could be…?"

"Dead?" Luxray asked, "No, I don't think that. I think they're out there somewhere, even after all these years. I think they're trying to get back to us. Celebi, too. She and Dialga are still keeping time under control, so I have a feeling all of them are still around. Maybe we'll even be reunited with them someday!"

Lucario smiled. "Yeah, I'd really like that… Anyway, shall we rest for an hour or two? I'm getting tired from all this travel."

"Sure!"

As the two friends lay down to rest, Luxray looked at his closest comrade.

"To tell you the truth… I'm scared about this mission. I don't want to die, but I want to try and defeat Darkrai… For the good of this world. His conquest can't be allowed to move any further."

"You're right, old friend. You and I stand a chance against him, though, and I'm pretty sure we're two of the few Pokémon in this world who can."

"You really think we can win?"

"Well, to be honest, I'm not _completely_ sure. However, I have an ace up my sleeve that might be able to help us in the battle."

"An ace? What ace might that be?"

Lucario gave his partner a smile. "You'll see when the time comes, old friend. I hoped I would never need to use it, but I fear it may be necessary against Darkrai."

Luxray looked at him, intrigued. "Well, I hope it's as powerful as you make it out to be, partner, or we're a _ll_ in trouble!"

Lucario laughed. "Get some rest. We'll both need it."

As the two heroes drifted off, Luxray thought of home.

 _I hope everything's all right back at the Guild… I hope Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie are doing well… They'll make something of themselves, those three… I just hope I'm here to see it when they do._

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed Chapter 8. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Three Fated Heroes is truly back on track again, and this Chapter had three different points of view in it, showing three different key segments of the storyline. Stay tuned for more of Chespin and friends' mission, as well as Lucario and Luxray's mission to the Hall of Light. Chapter 9 will be coming soon!**


	11. Chapter 9: The New Threat

_Chapter 9_

Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie and Slowpoke had set off from Treasure Town, ready to begin their long trek to the Hollow Canyon, about two hours ago. They had made their way over hills, through thick grassy fields, and across small streams, the playgrounds of young water-types such as Poliwag and Wooper.

"If you don't mind me asking, Slowpoke," Fennekin said amiably, "Why exactly are you heading across the Hollow Canyon? What's so important on the other side?"

"I'm, er… Headed for, er… Holydawn Town. There's a Pokémon there, who, er… Might know a way for me to get stronger. These are, er… Dark times, so I want to, er… Stop being a weakling so I can do my, er… Bit for the community!"

Chespin smiled at his friend. "That's a noble goal, Slowpoke, buddy."

"Yeah, Slowpoke. Who is this Pokémon anyway?"

"He calls himself, er… Alakazam!"

"Never heard of him," Chespin said light-heartedly.

"Nor have I," Froakie added.

"He's apparently a Psychic-Type who goes on adventures to dungeons hunting for evolution items."

Chespin's eyes lit up. "Evolution? Wow! I wonder what it'd be like if you evolved, Slowpoke!"

Slowpoke gave a dim smile. "Hopefully, I'd get, er… Taller! And more, er… Powerful."

Fennekin gave her friend a reassuring smile. "I'm sure you will, Slowpoke!"

The four of them continued the long journey they had ahead of them, laughing and telling stories as they went.

 _This is the life…_ Froakie thought happily to himself as he looked around at his friends.

Froakie couldn't believe how easily he had begun to fit in with all the other Guild members. Chespin and Fennekin had helped him make friends with many other Pokemon since his arrival at Treasure Town. He wanted to reward them by being the best he could be and fighting as hard as he could to help make even a small difference to this world of darkness. He was even slowly forgetting about his past life with Tyranitar and the Shade Syndicate, and focusing on his new life. He was blessed with a second chance to be one of the good guys the night he met Chespin, and Froakie had resolved to work hard at it.

Meanwhile, the pink, tusked Pokémon prowled quite a distance behind him with his followers in tow.

"M-master Granbull," a Zigzagoon, one of Linoone's followers, said meekly, "Why are we following those four specks in the distance?"

The large tusked Pokémon seethed with rage. " _Because_ , you dimwit, they're the ones who arrested Linoone. We were like brothers! They'll _pay_!"

Another follower, a Raticate, said, "But, master, what if they know about your… _Insecurity_?"

"Insecurity?!" Granbull blustered, "I don't know the meaning of the word! No insecurity would _dare_ try and plague the mind of _this_ hardened criminal!"

"But, master, pardon me for saying this, but your _type_ …"

Granbull went red, a mixture of embarrassment and pure anger. "DON'T… MENTION… _THAT_!"  
He swung a fist at the Raticate, who tried to move out of the way but was caught by the speedy blow.

"I may be a… _"_ he sighed, " _Fairy_ type…" The crowd of followers stifled guffaws. "…But I'm still a _fighter_!"

As his followers still continued to hold back laughter, Granbull roared. "We'll see who's laughing when I massacre those four imbeciles, along with _all of you_ , if you don't stop mocking me!"

"No one's mocking you, sir," Purrloin purred slowly, "I assure you, if they did, they would have. Purrloin was the only female Pokémon in Granbull's group, so she was a huge subject of infatuation from the others, and as such had an air of authority. Even though most of the other Pokémon in the group adored her, she openly despised most of them, tolerated a mere few and only had eyes for Granbull, and was seen as his second-in-command.

"Thanks, Purrloin," Granbull said whole-heartedly. He had a soft spot for her, and she was his favourite underling.

 _I'm not just a Fairy…_ Granbull thought angrily. _I'll prove myself when I avenge the imprisonment of my closest comrade!_

On Lunar Island, Cresselia gave orders to her legion of allies.

"I fear a dark time is upon us, my friends," Cresselia began. "Although we have been blessed with peace for a long time, I fear it is now over. Darkrai is rising, and upon further thought, I believe Darkrai may be a part of _me_. As I am a Guardian of Dreams, this Pokémon is a Bringer of Nightmares, spawned from the darkest side of my own being. If his forces do come here, I want you all to fight hard and protect Lunar Island with your lives! We will _not_ let this evil go any further!"

Cheers erupted from the crowd, who backed their benevolent leader, even in these bleak and ominous circumstances. Cresselia smiled at them. Munna and Musharna beamed back from the front row, along with Pokémon such as Lunatone, Solrock, Reuniclus and Gothitelle.

"Sigilyph!" she called the bird Pokémon who looked like a totem-pole, over to her side.

"Yes, Lady Cresselia?"

"I have a job for you."

"Anything, Lady Cresselia."

"I want you to go to Exploud's Guild. I need help, as many Pokémon as they can spare. Even if they are few in number, they will be better than nothing. Exploud and I know each other, so he'll be willing to spare some Guild members. If things go well, we could cut Darkrai's power and numbers down by a lot. This is the first step to saving the Creator. May Tornadus guide you well, Sigilyph!"

Sigilyph nodded to his mistress, and flew off to Exploud's Guild.

 _Treasure Town is very far away._ Cresselia thought. _I just hope these reinforcements, whomever they may be, make it in time…_

 **A/N: The attack on Lunar Island draws near, and Cresselia looks to Exploud's Guild for help. I apologise for the shorter Chapter, but I wanted to get a Chapter out as I am very busy with school and things, so I most likely won't have another Chapter done until at least Friday. I do like how this Chapter turned out though, with the light-hearted introduction of Granbull and his crew, and their not so light-hearted intentions. Stay tuned for Chapter 10!**


	12. Chapter 10: The Mountain of Deities

_Chapter 10_

Lucario and Luxray trudged along the stone path, their every step slow and monotonous. Their journey was nearing its end, and the way to the Hall of Light was on the near horizon. However, the most dangerous and long part of their journey was yet to come.

"That's it," Lucario whispered haggardly, "The Mountain of Deities."

Luxray gasped. "We made it here already?"

When Luxray looked where Lucario was pointing, he saw it. A huge mountain loomed on the horizon. This was the Mountain of Deities, the highest mountain in the world, or the highest one that had been discovered so far. At the top of this huge peak was the Hall of Light, the residence of Arceus the Creator, and the place where he looked down upon the rest of the Pokémon world.

"Let's take courage, my friend. We've made it this far… But now the most dangerous and treacherous part of our journey lies ahead." Lucario said solemnly.

Luxray nodded despite being extremely tired. Lucario was looking haggard too, but they had to do this. They had to complete their journey and confront Darkrai, for better or worse. At least if they were killed, they would go down in history as the only two Pokémon foolish enough to face Darkrai.

"The Mountain of Deities, eh?" Luxray murmured. "They should have renamed it as the Mountain of Power-Hungry Cretins."

Lucario gave a slight laugh to his friend. Despite being a human, Luxray had the sharp tongue and strong will of the rest of his kind in the Pokémon world. Luxio and Luxray were irritable, wild Pokémon that generally lived in nomadic clans that moved from place to place, raising their Shinx children to hunt for prey and survive.

Lucario was struggling to put one foot in front of the other as they approached the Mountain of Deities and eventually began to ascend it.

The journey up the mountain was long and difficult, and the hours passed slowly as the two heroes entered and exited cavernous areas inside the mountain and trekked along cliff sides. Their steps wavered, and at times they found it hard to keep their footing. As they got higher and higher, the temperature started to get colder. About a quarter of the way up, they found the first body.

"I think that's… A Pokémon!" Luxray exclaimed.

On the ground lay the figure of a Sandslash, its eyes closed tight and an expression of agony on its face. Scorch marks were visible on its torso, suggesting that it was killed by a fire attack.

"One of the Pokémon that lived here. I was wondering why we didn't encounter any of the residents. Look over there, too!"

A pool of purple sludge seeped into cracks in the ground. Those were probably the remains of a Grimer or Muk that exploded due to some kind of attack. As they got higher up the mountain, more and more remains could be seen. It was clear Darkrai had not come alone when he attacked the Hall of Light. He had brought some of his growing army, and they had slaughtered each and every Pokémon they saw.

"That's so disgusting…" Luxray whispered. "Why would one Pokémon be so evil? All of these innocent Pokémon were _murdered_ , Lucario. This is worse than anything we've seen in all our time adventuring."

Lucario gave a slight sigh, not at Luxray, but at what their world had become. "That's how life is now, old partner… Pokémon kill Pokémon, and don't think anything of it."

"That sounds like my own world…" Luxray shuddered, thinking of the atrocities humans committed to one another. "In the human world, things like this happen all of the time, too. I don't think it's even _possible_ for the inhabitants of _any_ world to co-exist in peace. It just makes me angry that people think they can just thoughtlessly kill and take away lives, all for the sake of power."

Lucario nodded grimly to his friend. Luxray's words struck Lucario. He was entirely correct. Perhaps it truly _was_ impossible for the people of any world to live together without outbreaks of terrorism or war. Lucario grew angry as well, the more he thought about it.

"Just being angry won't solve anything, Luxray. We need to take a _ction_ about these events. We must _fight_ , old friend, and I assure you, what we've set out to do will be the start of the counterattack of the good Pokémon of this world. Darkrai's days in power are numbered, thanks to us and our friends. And I'll tell you something else: It's the likes of Chespin and friends that will _truly_ decide the outcome of this crisis. They are the heroes that will succeed us. The time for them to catch up to us, and perhaps s _urpass_ us, is nigh."

Luxray was left in awe and admiration of his friend's words. Lucario was a true hero of this world.

"Of course, those words might just be the ranting of an old has-been," Lucario chuckled.

"Don't bury yourself yet," Luxray mused, "You and I still have quite a bit of fight left in us."

Lucario paused.

"Yes, Luxray, we do," he whispered, "And I think we may have to _use_ some of that fight now!"

Lucario fired off one of his signature Aura Spheres into a nearby clump of bushes. A Meinshao leapt from the bushes, evading the attack. The Meinshao bounced into the air, and came down, whacking Lucario in the stomach with a powerful kick that left Lucario wheezing.

"Who are you?! What business have you with Lord Darkrai?"

Luxray's hackles rose and he let fly a Spark attack, sending a small wave of electricity sparking into the Meinshao. He tried to avoid the sparks, but was caught in the attack. The Meinshao became paralyzed.

"We're the ones asking the questions here," Luxray growled. The Meinshao tried to move, but his legs would be locked there for the time being, giving the two heroes time to find out some things.

"How many of you are on this mountain and in the Hall of Light with Darkrai?" Lucario said scornfully, having just recovered his breath.

"A few hundred!" The Meinshao answered fearfully. "I-I'm just a guard, please don't kill me!"

Lucario glared. "I'd like nothing more, after that foolish attempt at a surprise attack you made. Pokémon like you make me sick. Why do you bow to such a cruel master? Can't you see the path of good is the right way for all Pokémon?"

The Meinshao laughed mockingly at Lucario's righteous and just beliefs.

"Hell, no. See, your 'good side' is the losing side. Darkrai has big plans for this world, and there'll be nothing left of the 'good side' once we're through with it. I'm sorry to disappoint, but it's true."

Luxray roared a curse at Meinshao.

"You're wrong! I know you're wrong! This world has room for only one thing, and that's justice! You fools, and your delusional master, will meet your downfall, at the hands of the brave heroes who fight against you!"

"Oh, really? Well then, heroes, let's see what you can do!" Meinshao clicked his fingers, and out came a Rhydon, Gigalith and Crawdaunt. They surrounded Lucario and Luxray. Meinshao had not been difficult to defeat, but he had only been one Pokémon. There were three new enemies, and Lucario and Luxray were weary from their hours of travel. If the two heroes were not careful, they could get captured.

"Damn it!" Luxray hissed, "I should have _known_ he'd have reinforcements!"

"Oh, he has reinforcements, all right!" Crawdaunt blustered, "None other than the Dreaded Buccaneer, Crawdaunt of the Spirit Seas!"

"Never heard of you," Lucario admitted.

Crawdaunt grew angrier. "YOU WILL WISH YOU'D NEVER CROSSED MY PATH, YOU FILTHY LAND-LUBBER! GET THEM, ME HEARTIES!"

"Since when were you the boss of us, Crawdaunt?" Rhydon said irritably. "I don't take orders from anyone, except our Lord Darkrai!"

Gigalith chimed in, "I second that!"

The two Rock-Types fired consecutive Rock Blasts Luxray's way, which he destroyed in midair with his Electro Ball attack. Crawdaunt swiped at Lucario with his huge pincers, but Lucario knocked the self-proclaimed pirate back with a powerful Force Palm.

The battle continued to go the way of the two heroes, with the two of them landing attacks and evading those of their enemies, until their tiredness began to get the best of them and Meinshao's paralysis wore off. Their original foe fired off an unexpected Aura Sphere of his own, hitting Luxray and sending him sprawling on the ground, where Rhydon then attacked with Stomp. Luxray cried out in agony, and Lucario rushed towards his friend to help. He stumbled, and began to see double.

 _I'm getting… Drowsy… Perhaps this journey… Is too much for even us…_

Lucario collapsed to the ground, leaving Luxray being mercilessly beaten by the enemy.

Luxray screamed in pain as he was whaled on by attacks on four fronts.

"Hahaha! This is fun!" Crawdaunt laughed. Luxray looked at him with pure resentment as he and his allies beat him in a similar, but much more brutal way than the bullies Luxray could remember on school playgrounds, beating up weak, nerdy kids smaller and younger than them. Luxray had always felt empathy for kids who suffered from bullying, but now he knew what they went through multiplied by at least a hundred, as he was struck by constant powerful attacks.

 _This is it!_ He thought. _I'll pass out, and they'll take us to Darkrai…_

 _Not today!_ An unfamiliar voice rang out to him with telepathy.

Two new Pokémon leaped into the fray, one a large, green, scaly bipedal creature with huge axe-like tusks, probably a Dragon-type, the other a human-like creature with blades on its elbows. This was most likely the one that had spoken to Luxray just now.

The Dragon-type fired a devastating Outrage attack, knocking down Meinshao and Gigalith in one strike, but leaving the Pokémon confused after the attack.

"W-Woah, I'm s-seeing Staryu…" He wandered around in a daze, giving Rhydon time to slip away. Luxray tried to get up and stop him, but he was too injured to do so. The dragon's friend felled Crawdaunt with a Close Combat.

"Avast! The Dreaded Buccaneer has been bested by a mere Vassal…"

The battle was over as quickly as it had started. These two Pokémon were extremely powerful.

 _Crawdaunt said the word 'vassal'…_ Luxray thought. _Could these two be Vassals of the Creator that survived Darkrai's attack?_

"Yes, something like that," the Psychic-type spoke. "We were actually off on a mission when Darkrai attacked, so we came back here to see all the corpses of our friends. We also know of the fate that befell the Creator."

"I just wish we could have helped fight that wretched Darkrai…" the Dragon whispered regretfully.

Luxray nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry this had to happen, and I offer my condolences. I'm Luxray, and… I'm from Exploud's Guild, in the far-off Treasure Town. My comrade, Lucario, and I… Came here to try and confront Darkrai."

The Psychic –type smiled. "I have heard of you, human, and your endeavours to save the Pokémon world both in the past, present _and_ future. You and Lucario are truly a worthy pair of heroes to come and try your hand at saving our Creator, and my friend and I wish to help you in any way possible. I am Gallade, and this is Haxorus. We are the last Vassals of the Creator."

"Well met, hero," Haxorus added.

"Well met," Luxray replied respectfully.

"Now that the introductions are out of the way," Gallade said, "Let's head for our hiding place. We can heal you there, and we can plan our entry to the Hall of Light."

Luxray accepted Haxorus' extended arm, and lifted himself back up onto his four shaky legs. Haxorus then picked up the passed out body of Lucario, and the four of them headed off further up the mountain.

"It's just a little bit further to our hideout," Gallade assured Luxray as they walked.

 _Thank Arceus,_ Luxray thought. With the way things were going, if what Lucario said about the worst being ahead of them was true, Luxray wasn't entirely sure if they would survive this mission.

 **A/N: After a few weeks of laziness, I finally decided to write and post a new Chapter. This is the longest Chapter so far, and probably my favourite. I like how it turned out, and I definitely enjoy writing about Lucario and Luxray, although our main hero Chespin is probably my favourite character so far due to his sheer determination. Anyways, I'm quite proud of how Chapter 10 turned out, and I'd love you guys to review it so I can see what you think. Stay tuned for Chapter 11**


	13. Chapter 11: Strangers on the Road

_Chapter 11_

"Are we there yet?" Fennekin sighed. She had grown tired of continuously walking after a few hours, as had the rest of her friends.

Chespin smiled back at her. "Sorry, pal, but we've still got a long way to go before we even _reach_ the Hollow Canyon! But I don't mind because that just means we have even more of an adventure to experience!"

Fennekin laughed at this. "You're all talk, Chespin. I bet you're tired, just like the rest of us. You don't always have to play the tough guy, you know."

Chespin knew his best friend was only joking, but he wondered how Fennekin would feel if she knew he only played the tough guy for her benefit, to make her admire him. Somewhere deep down, Chespin had an intense longing for the approval of Fennekin.

Froakie was behind them, talking to Slowpoke and hearing stories about Treasure Town and the Guild. Chespin was happy to see his new friend taking in the history of his new home, and knew that this would bring them all closer together.

 _Now, if only there was_ some _kind of action on this mission…_ Chespin thought to himself. He was used to intense fighting missions, not dull, boring tours of the landscape. Sure, the Hollow Canyon was supposed to be dangerous, but Chespin wondered if it was called "Hollow" because it was devoid of activity and life. He sighed, hoping this wasn't the case.

Meanwhile, Granbull and his team of cronies followed, awaiting the time to strike. The large Fairy-type was excited to bring down the fools who crushed Linoone and sent him to jail. Purrloin nuzzled up to her master as they walked. Granbull only put up with Purrloin because she was stealthy, powerful and loyal. Her futile attempts at flirtation were wasted on Granbull, as he would never give her the light of day. Granbull's heart had been broken several times in the past due to his somewhat ugly appearance, so he had no confidence with girls. Even if he did, Purrloin was too sneaky for him.

"I can't wait to see their faces, contorted with pain!" Granbull snorted with laughter at the thought. Behind him, his cohorts laughed with him. Purrloin cackled menacingly beside him.

"Purrloin, I want you to lay a trap ahead. Pretend to be a wounded Pokémon on the road, and those do-gooders will probably try and help you. That's when you strike, and then the rest of us jump in and back you up. Those silly "heroes" won't know what hit 'em."

"Yes, Master Granbull," Purrloin purred contentedly, "A most cunning plan."

Chespin and friends were now ascending up a hill. Slowpoke seemed to be getting tired, but when Chespin asked if he wanted to stop for a rest, he diligently refused. This was the first time Chespin had ever seen his friend determined to do something. It was surreal, but also quite uplifting to see.

As they pressed on, all four of them grew tired. These winding greens were taking their toll. Chespin started to grow impatient, and wanted to get to the Hollow Canyon more than anything else. Why hadn't they arrived there yet? They'd been on the road for hours, but the repetitive nature of going up and down hills and crossing small streams started to get to Chespin's head. This was so boring.

 _Do it for Slowpoke…_ Chespin told himself. _He wants nothing more than to evolve and get stronger…_

Chespin then thought of his own desire to become strong and make a difference in this messed-up world, and started feeling empathetic towards Slowpoke. Besides, all of these missions were small steps towards his goal of becoming a hero. He looked around at Fennekin and Froakie, who were dragging their feet along the flower-covered grasslands. The smell of the flowers was intoxicating. It made Chespin want to sleep. He then remembered that they had to keep going for Slowpoke's sake, so he kept pressing on.

The group came to a stop when Chespin was walking along and heard a squeal.

"Ouch!" A tiny voice rang out.

Chespin looked around. He couldn't see anything or anyone that could have been the source of the sound. All that was there were flowers.

"Down _here_!" The voice squeaked. Chespin looked down and saw a tiny little hedgehog-like creature with flowers on its back.

"How very rude of you!" The little Pokémon said gruffly.

"Wh-What did he do?" Fennekin asked, watching the scene confusedly.

"Uh… Chespin… Who is this?" Slowpoke slurred.

Froakie's eyes gleamed with recognition. "I… I _know_ you!"

The Pokémon looked from face to face.

"How _dare_ you step on the legendary Shaymin?!"

"Shaymin? Never heard of you…" Chespin said blankly. "Sorry for stepping on you, though!"

"You _should_ be!" Shaymin said irritably. "If I had my Gracidea right now I would _destroy_ you!"

Fennekin tried to get Shaymin to calm down. "He's sorry for stepping on you, it's just that… You blend in so well with all these pretty flowers, because _you're_ so pretty too!"

Shaymin's eyes grew wide, and she smiled widely. "Y-You think I'm pretty? Wow, thank you!"

"I'm Fennekin, by the way. These are my friends Chespin, Froakie and Slowpoke."

They all introduced themselves to the legendary Pokémon.

"I'm Froakie!" Froakie said. "I've only heard tales about you, Miss Shaymin!"

"Aw, you don't have to call me _miss_. Shaymin is just fine!"

"But… You're heroics are so noteworthy and the stories of your bravery and prowess have reached the ears of even _me_. I was born in a far-off land."

Shaymin clearly was a Pokémon that liked to be complimented. She smiled happily when Fennekin and Froakie discussed the legends of Shaymin, who had once stopped a battle between Dialga, Palkia and Giratina. Shaymin was known as the Sky Warrior.

"Sky Warrior? How can a flightless little flower-hog get an alias like the Sky Warrior?" Chespin said unwittingly.

"I am _not_ flightless!" Shaymin blustered.

"You're really digging yourself a hole here, Chespin." Froakie muttered.

"You idiot!" Fennekin said, "Stop disrespecting Miss Shaymin!"

"Uh, you might want to, um… Quit while you're, um… Ahead, Chespin!" Slowpoke said slowly.

"I'm sorry, Miss Shaymin!" Chespin said sorrowfully.

"You'd best be, young one," Shaymin snapped. "Anyway, I am known as the Sky Warrior because I become extremely powerful when I enter my Sky Forme!"

"Sky Forme?" Fennekin asked.

"Yes. If I touch a Gracidea Flower, I enter my Sky Forme. Then, I am extremely powerful, and taller, and I can fly. Boy, do I miss my Sky Forme…"

"Why can't you turn into it anymore?" Chespin asked.

"Do you _see_ a Gracidea Flower anywhere?!" Shaymin hissed wickedly. She really didn't like Chespin. The feeling was starting to become mutual, though.

"But, Miss Shaymin, how do you _find_ a Gracidea Flower?"

"There's this place called the Hollow Canyon near here. Around this time of year, Gracidea Flowers grow there. It's a desolate place, but the Gracidea never fails to grow there on one occasion every year. That time, by my calculations, is… Tomorrow!"

Chespin and his friends looked at each other. They then moved away from Shaymin and had a team huddle.

"Do you think we should, uh… Offer to let her travel with us?" Slowpoke asked.

"If the legends are true, she'd be really useful if we had to battle any enemies!" Froakie added.

"Plus, she's _so_ nice… I'd love to make friends with her!" Fennekin chimed in.

Chespin looked at all his friends to make sure they weren't joking.

"Are you guys… _Serious?!"_ Chespin couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You guys want to let _that_ uppity little brat join us? She probably isn't even the real Shaymin. Lucario and Luxray met Shaymin before, and they didn't describe her as anything like that…"

"Well, Chespin, I'm sorry but… You were rude to _her_ first. Anyway, majority rules. So let's take her with us."

Chespin opened his mouth to protest but knew it was futile. Once Fennekin's mind was set on something, there was no changing it back. The four of them returned to Shaymin.

"Miss Shaymin, we're actually headed across the Hollow Canyon, too… We're meeting a certain Pokémon on the other side of the canyon. We'd really like to travel with you, and maybe hear some of your stories?" Fennekin asked politely.

Shaymin considered this for a second, then smiled widely. "Sure!" She said happily, "I'd love to travel together and get to know you young heroes! It's always refreshing meeting new friends!"

"We're glad to have you along, Miss Shaymin!" Froakie said kindly.

When his friends all had their backs turned towards the horizon, Shaymin gave Chespin a devilish smile.

"You're stuck with me now, little hero!"

Chespin tried to contain his anger.

"Let's be sure to get along!" The annoying little hedgehog said sweetly.

As the day passed, they crossed even more grassland, with Shaymin telling stories of her past and all the other Legendaries she'd met. The sun was starting to set, creating a beautiful pinkish sky.

"Entei is a nice guy," she started what felt to Chespin her thousandth story, "Although he's a bit _hot_ -headed! Get it? Because he's a fire type!"

All of Chespin's friends laughed at this terrible pun. Chespin wondered how they could ever get along with that bratty little creature.

"Pardon me for asking, _Miss_ Shaymin," Chespin interrupted before she could continue her Entei story, "But have you heard about the recent events about Darkrai and Arceus?"

"Ah, yes…" Shaymin's tone grew sad, "That's a nasty business. That's why I'm heading to the Canyon. I need something to defend myself with if Darkrai tries to attack me."  
" _If_ he tries?" Chespin asked.

"Yes," Shaymin replied, "I'm hardly going to try and fight against him by will! That would be _suicide_! If the Creator himself didn't stand a chance, what makes you think anyone else-"

"THAT'S _ENOUGH_!" Chespin yelled viciously.

"Chespin, don't shout at Miss Shaymin!" Fennekin scolded.

"How can you _listen_ to her, Fennekin?! She, a _Legendary Pokémon_ , won't even assist in the world's efforts against Darkrai, while _our friends_ —"

"I'm sorry, little hero." Shaymin said. "I didn't mean any offence, but I don't mean to throw my life away. I don't believe in heroism anymore."

This shocked the whole group. Chespin was furious.

"You're s _o_ powerful, and a great hero of legend, but you don't believe in heroism?! Don't you listen to yourself? Two of my best friends are off heading towards the Hall of Light to face Darkrai themselves! Two Pokémon you _met_! Do the names Lucario and Luxray mean anything to you?"

"Ah, yes, I do remember those two," Shaymin said, "One of them was a human. They're headed for the Hall of Light? How foolish of them, to just throw their lives away like that!"

"They are _not_ throwing their lives away! They're actually _doing_ something for the world, while _you're_ looking for a powerful item _just_ to protect yourself? I thought you were a hero, not a selfish fool!" Chespin couldn't hold back his rage at Shaymin's words. He looked like he was ready to try and fight her.

"Chespin, calm down," Fennekin said, gently touching her friend's arm. "Miss Shaymin didn't mean anything by it…"

Froakie had noticed something while all that commotion was happening, and walked over to whatever it was he had seen. Slowpoke followed him, probably wanting to stay out of this argument.

"Ordinary Pokémon like those two are risking their lives while a Legendary like you only cares about herself?! What gives you the right to abandon this world?!"

Shaymin had had enough, and unleashed a Seed Flare, her most powerful attack. Chespin hurtled backwards, screaming in pain.

"You… Brat…" He glared at the Legendary Pokémon.

" _I abandoned this world a long time ago_. It was my choice, and I won't have some little kid playing hero try and tell me otherwise." Shaymin whispered.

Fennekin was helping Chespin up, and trying to get them both to calm down. Chespin tried to launch a counterattack, but Fennekin held him back.

"Miss Shaymin, I know it is your choice to fight or not, but you went a bit over the line when you said that about Lucario and Luxray." Fennekin said to Shaymin. She nodded and muttered an apology.

"And Chespin, I know you feel strongly about becoming a hero and saving the world and stuff, but Miss Shaymin has a right to choose whether to put her life on the line for the sake of the world, and you just have to respect that choice. I want us to travel together and have a good time, so I want you both to promise me that you'll stop fighting."

"I promise." Chespin said reluctantly. Fennekin let go of him, albeit still worried he might try to attack Shaymin again.

"I promise, too. I'm sorry, little hero, I truly meant no offence."

"I… I shouldn't have overreacted."

A moment later, Froakie returned with Slowpoke, holding a small Pokémon in his arms.

"Froakie, who is that?"

"I don't know, but she looks injured!" Froakie said worriedly.

"We, uh… Should help her! Isn't that, uh… What Explorers do?" Slowpoke said dutifully.

Chespin, Fennekin and Shaymin approached Froakie. In his arms was a small, feline Pokémon who was fainted.

"Let's stop for the night," Shaymin said. "I can heal her wounds overnight. We still have a ways to go, but we can afford to rest tonight."

"Okay," Chespin said, "Let's set up camp here and get some rest. Shaymin, get ready to heal her."

Quite a bit behind, Granbull smiled around at his underlings.

"She's got 'em…" Granbull said. "Tonight, when they're sleeping, Purrloin will give us a signal. Then, we get revenge for the imprisonment of our old buddy Linoone…"

The group of outlaws laughed evilly.

"Did you, uh… hear that?" Slowpoke said to Froakie while their friends set up camp and Chespin collected berries for them to eat.

"Hear what?" Froakie asked.

"I thought I could hear some, uh… Evil laughter."

"Oh, well, I didn't hear anything." Froakie assured his friend.

"Oh, uh… Okay." Slowpoke replied, "It must have just been, my, uh… Imagination."

 **A/N: Chapter 11 is another longer Chapter. I love this Chapter too, and the new character introduced is one I have quite a bit planned for. We also get some minor development for other characters, as that's what I wanted this Chapter to be about. The Hollow Canyon storyline is only really beginning, so get ready to see what happens next now that Granbull has laid his trap. Enjoy Chapter 11, and be sure to leave a review telling me what you thought.**


	14. Chapter 12: Attack in the Night

_Chapter 12_

As the group of young explorers ate together, Purrloin opened her eyes.

"Hi!" Chespin smiled. "How are you feeling? I'm glad you're awake!"

Purrloin tried to sound as tired and in pain as she possibly could.

"H-Hello… I'm… Still not feeling so good…"

Fennekin went over to Purrloin. "What's your name? We found you passed out in a field. Do you remember what happened to you?"

"My name… It's… Purrloin," Purrloin said faintly, "But… I can't quite remember what happened to me. I think I was attacked, but I don't know for sure who the attacker was…"

"Whoever they are, they're a coward!" Chespin blustered, "What kind of evil Pokémon attacks an innocent traveller like that?"

"Most unjust," Shaymin agreed with Chespin for a change. "If there's any way we can help you, please let us know!"

Chespin looked astonished. "I thought you were done with this whole world, _Miss Shaymin_ … Did my words perhaps have an effect on you?"

"N-No… It's just that Purrloin is a little Pokémon as well, and us little Pokémon have to stick together, right?"

Chespin laughed. "Sure, that's _totally_ what you were thinking."

Slowpoke looked at Purrloin. "So… Uh… Can we help you in, uh… Any way?"

"N-No thanks… I think I'll just go back to sleep…" Purrloin whispered.

"That's probably for the best." Froakie agreed.

Purrloin stared at Froakie.

"Y-You…"

In a second Froakie became terrified.

 _SHE KNOWS ME?! What if she's from one of the towns the Shade Syndicate burned down… Damn it! Chespin will_ definitely s _top being my friend if he finds out!_

It turned out all right, as Purrloin closed her eyes. That was close. Who was this Purrloin? Froakie felt as if he should have recognised her, too.

"Wow, she just went back to, uh… Sleep… Just like that, huh?" Slowpoke said slowly, "Reminds me of myself…"

"Anyway, let's eat!" Fennekin suggested.

They all sat down to a meal of berries together. Chespin and Slowpoke joked and laughed and told stories, while Froakie sat contemplatively, trying to figure out who Purrloin was.

"You okay?" Fennekin came over to him.

Froakie glanced at his friend, and saw that her eyes were full of concern. It hurt Froakie to know that he would have to keep secrets from his friends for as long as he knew them. If they found out about the Shade Syndicate, his time with them would be over. Froakie imagined having to go back to his old life, with the constant training and feeling Tyranitar's wrath when he messed up on missions. He didn't like killing, but in the past it was his only way of staying alive. Now, he had just began to settle into his new life with his new friends, and didn't want the happiness he was feeling to end.

"I… I'm all right, thanks."

"It seems like something's wrong," Fennekin said, "We're your friends, you know. You can just tell us if something's bothering you."

"Really, it's nothing," Froakie replied. "I'm just… Tired." He lied.

"You should get some rest, then," Fennekin smiled.

"I'll try."

It pained him to lie to her, but he did what he had to.

They finished eating their berries, then one by one they started to fall asleep. Froakie had his eyes closed, but didn't want to sleep. He feared Purrloin, thinking she might be a Pokémon sent to lay a trap for them, which was correct.

Fennekin and Shaymin were still up. Fennekin went over to Shaymin.

"Miss Shaymin?" Fennekin asked.

"Yes, Fennekin?" Shaymin answered.

"I just wanted to say… I'm really sorry about how Chespin acted today. His temper rises too quickly, and it puts him at odds with others. If you say anything that opposes something or someone he cares about, he tends to snap. He's very protective of his friends!"

"Ah, that isn't a bad quality to have. I was like that too, once…"

Fennekin found it difficult to believe that the sharp, world-hating little hedgehog in front of her was once like her best friend, full of optimism, bravery and dedication.

"Can I ask you something, Miss Shaymin? You don't have to answer this if you don't want to… It's sort of personal, and I don't mean to intrude…"

"Oh, no, it's okay," Shaymin said. "I like you, Fennekin, so ask whatever you want."

Fennekin smiled. "Thanks. So, my question is… What changed you? You said you abandoned this world a long time ago, and that you don't believe in heroism anymore. What caused such a big change from you?"

Shaymin's eyes grew sad and solemn, as if it physically hurt her to think about the incident in question.

"I was once like you, Fennekin," Shaymin began her story, "I was a bright, aspiring young explorer who wanted adventure and aspired to see the world! Arceus the Creator brought me to life many, many years ago. We legendary Pokémon were some of the first Pokémon to be created, aside from the Prehistoric Pokémon, most of which now only really inhabit once part of the world. As I grew, the world grew with me. Ordinary Pokémon were created and involved, giving this world its huge population. The older legendary Pokémon worked to keep the world in balance. Some of us, though, lived amongst the ordinary Pokémon, and co-existed. We acted as guardians, but also fitted in with the average citizens. I became an explorer as sort of a side-job apart from the whole guardian thing."

"Really?" Fennekin said, amazed. "I never knew that! So, you had adventures of your own?"

"As I said, I was just like you," Shaymin replied, "My partner and I went off in search of relics, artifacts, treasure and _glory_. It was really a wonderful part of my life."

"Partner?" Fennekin asked, "Who was your partner?"

"His name was… Keldeo." Shaymin paused and looked like she was going to cry, something completely unsuited for the plucky, sharp Pokémon she was.

"Keldeo and I were friends ever since we were created. He was trained by a group of three Pokémon known as the Swords of Justice. When we were powerful enough, the Swords of Justice and Arceus the Creator acknowledged our skills and allowed us to go off and see the world."

Fennekin smiled a little. "That really does remind me of me and Fennekin. We worked and trained hard to become the explorers we are today, as well."

"Keldeo was a gentle soul. He was brave, powerful, intelligent and kind, but also kind of an idiot. He was clumsy at times, and often messed things up. However, he was fiercely protective of each and every Pokémon he knew, and would help any Pokémon with any problem. I loved him… I really did."

"He really does sound like Chespin… Wow…" Fennekin thought of all the times her friend had dived into danger to keep her safe. Even recently, when he hunted down Kecleon, he had saved her from the pain of having to fight one of her closest friends. Chespin was effortlessly kind.

"Do you… _Love_ Chespin?" Shaymin asked.

Fennekin blushed and stammered. "N-N-No… I just meant… Keldeo is like him because he's so kind! I mean, I do love Chespin, but in a friend way! Well, maybe more than that… More like a _best_ friend way!" She grew defensive, "Don't you have a story to be getting on with?"

Froakie had to contain his laughter at Fennekin's embarrassed reaction and futile attempts to cover up her feelings.

Shaymin laughed. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by that! Anyway… Keldeo and I went on a great many adventures," her voice grew distant and contemplative once more, full of nostalgia remembering all the great times she had with her best friend. "But then… Only about five years ago, four years after I met your friends Lucario and Luxray… Something happened."

"Did you two have a falling out?" Fennekin said sadly.

"Worse… Keldeo is _gone_. He was taken by something or someone, and I don't know why. I suspect it's to do with Darkrai's plot. Even though he's only really started moving recently, Darkrai has probably been around a lot longer than we think. You heard about that whole incident with the Time Gears and such, right?"

"Y-Yes. Lucario, Luxray and their friends Grovyle and Celebi saved the world from Primal Dialga."

"I have this theory… I think Darkrai was the mastermind behind the whole incident with the Planet's Paralysis. I think he may have even had some involvement with Giratina the Renegade, the evil Pokémon that I myself sent back to its own world. That was about… Fifty years ago? I really do think Darkrai has been around for a long time, hiding in the shadows and biding his time. And now the monster that I believe took my best friend from me is making his move."

Fennekin was shocked to hear this, as was Froakie. The latter stifled a gasp and proceeded to listen to the rest of the conversation.

"So… Isn't now your chance to save your friend?" Fennekin said, hoping to rekindle the flames of heroism in Shaymin.

Shaymin, however, shook her head. "I believe, as sad as it is to say… That Keldeo is _dead_. Darkrai is a being of cruelty and malice, and no Pokémon would survive five years after being taken by him, not even one like Keldeo."

"You have to have _hope_ , Shaymin! If you believe that Keldeo is still alive somewhere, you could still find him, and go back to how it used to be."

"It's pointless!" Tears were running down Shaymin's face now. "I'm not strong enough to save my friend. I never will be, and I realise that. So now… I just care about my own survival. I like you, Fennekin, and I see potential in you and your friends, even Chespin. You shining young stars will light up this world one day, if we all survive this Darkrai crisis. I, however, am a star whose light has faded out, as I no longer have my companion star, who your partner Chespin reminds me of so painfully. If I talk anymore, I will just embarrass myself. Goodnight, Fennekin." Shaymin turned away and lay down to sleep.

"Goodnight, Miss Shaymin… I'm so sorry for putting you through that. It must have been painful to remember such things…"

"In truth, it was. But, I also feel somewhat better for opening up. Feel free to do the same anytime, young one. We girls need to support each other. Goodnight."

 _I definitely… Understand Miss Shaymin a lot better now,_ Fennekin thought to herself as she too headed to sleep.

Froakie heard the sound of sobbing for a while, probably from Shaymin. That story had also hit Froakie hard. He knew what it was like to go from a happy life to one of loneliness and pain. The tale reminded him of his own tragic story. He decided to put that out of his mind.

For hours, things were quiet, and Froakie was alone with his dark, torturing thoughts as the night passed.

 _You don't deserve this life…_

 _You deserve to die, like all those other innocents they killed…_

 _You're a murderer…_

 _You deserve to burn…_

 _Why were you alone spared?_

Froakie was so wrapped up in his own bubble of darkness and negativity that he didn't hear the sounds of movement nearby. If he had, he would have merely thought it was just some of the Pokémon that lived here.

Purrloin opened her eyes and dropped her innocent, wounded act. She stood up, perfectly fine, and whispered one word.

" _Now."_

Froakie's eyes snapped open, but not before he could move and evade an oncoming Shadow Claw attack from Purrloin. He leapt back, wincing in pain, and looked his attacker up and down.

"You!" Froakie said, "I knew you couldn't be trusted!"

"What gave me away?" Purrloin smiled.

"You… You _know_ me!" Froakie said, hoping not to wake any of his friends. He could take on one measly little cat.

 _That Shadow Claw was powerful… I have to be more careful…_

"I've only heard the stories, Froakie of the Shade Syndicate!" Purrloin cackled. "I know all about you, even that _little secret_ you have!"

"My life is a secret," Froakie snapped, "You'll have to be more specific!"

"Oh, you know," Purrloin taunted, "That one you were _born_ with! My colleagues and I know Tyranitar, and when he took you in, he couldn't help but brag about that gem of a find he made, with that rare-"

" _Enough_!" Froakie lunged at Purrloin and attacked her with Double Slap. If she had felt anything, she certainly did a good job of hiding it. She smiled menacingly. Froakie glared back.

"What do you want with us?"

"Oh, I _personally_ don't have any problem with you, assassin…" Purrloin said in a singsong voice, "But my friends, however…"

It was then that Granbull and the rest of his posse, about twenty in all, came crawling out of the darkness into the light of their campfire.

" _Who are you_?" Froakie shouted. At this, Chespin began to stir.

"Just five… More minutes…" Froakie's friend slurred sleepily.

"I guess you could call us… _friends_." Granbull said, "Friends of Linoone, the very Pokémon you young hotshots sent to Klinklang's Prison the other day! The name's Granbull, and I'm here for one thing, _revenge_!"

Purrloin smiled. "The boss is so cool!"

Froakie glared daggers at Granbull. "If you guys are anything like Linoone and his gang, it won't take me five minutes to send you packing!"

"Big talk from such a little guy!" One of the Zangoose said.

"Precisely!" Granbull said. "I know all about you, little one, and I know about _that_. But I bet it hasn't even awakened in you yet! You may be some kind of baby assassin, but you're just an ordinary Froakie if you haven't awakened _that_!"

Froakie didn't like this one bit. He'd prove to them that he wouldn't be so easy to take on.

"I'll show you just how scary I can be." Froakie hissed sharply. He ran at Granbull, but two Watchog got in the way. He started hammering at them with punches and kicks, evading their Hyper Fang attacks easily. Once Froakie was in the zone, it was hard to catch him off guard.

He launched Bubble attacks at the rest of the minions, picking them off one by one as they charged at him, trying to protect their leader. Even Purrloin could do nothing against him as he tirelessly pummelled the pathetic criminals.

 _I still have to be careful. I can't waste energy with fancy attacks. That Granbull looks tough…_

He glanced back at his friends between knocking down Zigzagoon, remnants of Linoone's gang. They were still asleep, miraculously.

Granbull was the only one left, and his minions were cowering behind him.

"You're all useless!" Granbull shouted. "I'll do it myself, then!"

"You cretins!" Purrloin said, "You are so pitiful that you make the boss waste his power on a little fool like that?"

"Shut up Purrloin, he called you useless too!" One of the other subordinates of Granbull called at her from the back of the crowd of injured minions.

Purrloin slinked off to find whoever said that, while Granbull charged at Froakie.

"Dodge _this_ , baby assassin!" The gang leader shouted, barrelling towards Froakie with his head lowered. Before the Skull Bash attack could land, Froakie leaped up and landed perfectly on the ground. Granbull crashed into the ground as well, much more painfully.

"Boss, are you okay?"

"Shut up, Purrloin! Can't you see I'm in agony here?!"

"It seems your own attack was your downfall." Froakie said with a cocky smile that he felt he deserved. Not many Pokémon his size could take on twenty gang members. He turned his attention back to the gang of idiots in front of him.

"You lot," Froakie said, "Are the most incompetent avengers I have ever seen. Linoone would _laugh_ at that pathetic attempt. Now, leave my sight, and don't ever try that again! _Do you hear me_?!"

One of them whispered to another, "It's because the boss is a Fairy-Type."

"SILENCE!" Granbull howled, still holding his head in pain from when he bashed into the ground.

"We won't do that again, Froakie sir," Granbull said, "We understand now that you have the situation under control. You'll do our work for us, saying that you're going to _kill_ these guys and all those other fools at the Guild, right? You're a great assassin, so you're probably just getting in good with them so as it'll be easier to stab them in the back and massacre them, right?" The gang leader sounded almost hopeful that this was the case, so that he wouldn't have to come back and try to avenge his friend a second time.

It was risky of Froakie to say this, but he decided to go along with Granbull's assumption.

"Yes, that's true," He started, "And I don't need any other gangs trying to interfere with me! These are _my kill_ , you got that?"

Granbull whimpered, "Y-Yes, Froakie, sir…"

"Leave me." Froakie commanded with eyes like knives.

The Granbull gang bolted in a second. Froakie was elated. He had successfully protected his friends from those idiots, and none of them had even woken up. He didn't have to tell them about the attack, as they'd just worry.

 _Chespin would probably be annoyed that he missed out on a fight…_ Froakie thought to himself with a chuckle. He looked down at his snoring friend.

"Gonna… Be… A great adventurer…" He mumbled again in his sleep.

"That you are, my friend," Froakie whispered with a smile, as he too finally settled down. The tiredness from his hours travelling and the fight with Granbull's gang finally caught up to him, and he decided to take the last couple of hours of the night to rest up for the day ahead.

 **A/N: The Chapters of this story just seem to be getting longer and longer. I really like how this Chapter turned out, and it was just under 3000 words, making it the longest Chapter so far. This Chapter is a good one for me as it shows off exactly why Froakie is probably my favourite character on this journey. Anyway, leave me a review saying what you thought of the Chapter, and follow me if you want to be notified when I upload the next one.**


	15. Side Story 1: The Phantom Garden

_The Phantom Garden_

Riolu and Luxray were awoken by Loudred's calling, as they had been for the past two years. They had seen many adventures, and even saved their world from the Planet's Paralysis. Now their lives were back to normal, and they were back to working at Wigglytuff's Guild.

"M-Morning, Riolu…" Luxio said groggily.

Just recently, Riolu's best friend Shinx, who was originally a human who could go between the human and Pokémon world, evolved into Luxio. When they stopped the Planet's Paralysis, the ability to evolve was restored to the Pokémon of the world.

The two friends got up and made their way out of their room and out into the corridor. They greeted their friends Bidoof, Crawdaunt and Sunflora, then together they all made their way out into the main room of the Guild. Everyone was already there, the whole gang. At the front of the group stood Chatot and Guildmaster Wigglytuff. The Guildmaster appeared sleepy as usual, so Chatot started to read out announcements from a piece of paper which contained messy writing in Wigglytuff's signature scrawl.

"There are no real announcements that apply to all of you today," Chatot began, "But I would like to see Luxio and Riolu after the briefing. As for all of the rest of you, let's do a good job today!"

"Yeah, let's do a good job!" Wigglytuff mumbled half-heartedly, still waking himself up.

Luxio looked at Riolu.

"What do you think _that's_ about?"

"I don't know," Riolu replied as the crowd began to disperse, "But I guess we're about to find out."

Chatot arrived over beside them, accompanied by Wigglytuff.

"Hey, friends!" Wigglytuff said with a smile, "We have good news for you!"

Riolu and Luxio exchanged grins.

"Good news?" Riolu asked, "What is it, Guildmaster?"

"Er… Chatot, you tell them!" Wigglytuff giggled. It was true that the Guildmaster would really not be able to run the Guild without being accompanied by Chatot.

"Well," Chatot said, clearing his throat, "The two of you have been selected for a very important mission, due to your involvement with the saving of the world last year… This is a dangerous mission, so you don't have to accept it if you don't want."

The cowardly side of Riolu, the one that had been with him for as long as he could remember, screamed out _Decline the mission! You don't want to get in any more trouble or danger_ , but Riolu had long since chosen to become braver and ignore that side of him.

Luxio was looking confidently at Chatot. Riolu's friend had always been so brave ever since they first met, and Riolu believed that some of the bravery had rubbed off on him. "What does this mission entail?"

"Legend tells," Chatot began, "Of a mysterious place known only as _the Phantom Garden_. No one knows what happened there, but at some point in time it became… _Haunted_." Chatot paused for effect, as if he was trying to spook the two of them. Luxio and Riolu weren't buying it, though.

"So, you want us to investigate this Phantom Garden of yours?" Riolu smiled at Chatot confidently. There was a time when he would have point-blank refused to go there, but with Luxio beside him he didn't feel afraid anymore.

"Yes, that is the gist of the mission. The item known as the Spooky Plate is said to be key in finding the garden, and the Guild just acquired said Plate, so naturally we'd want to send a Team out to try and use the Plate to find the Garden."

"All right!" Riolu said, "Luxio, let's do this!"

Luxio smiled back at his partner, he himself excited for this new adventure they were about to embark on.

"Here's the Plate," Chatot said, handing them a slab of rock wrapped in cloth.

"No one knows what kind of dangers await you in the Phantom Garden!" Wigglytuff said, "Be sure to stock up on items in Town before you head off on the adventure."

"Will do, Guildmaster Wigglytuff!" Riolu said happily. Luxio could see how excited his partner was to head out on this spooky mission.

The two of them went into Treasure Town and purchased the essentials for going to uncharted territories.

"Rollcall Orbs, Reviver Seeds… I think that's all!" Luxio said as they carried two bags of goods between them. They had spent about 5000 Poké, and obtained many necessities.

"Looks like we're ready, then!" Riolu said.

"Um… What do we _do_? It would have helped if Chatot had explained how we might get to this Phantom Garden…" Luxio sighed.

"Hmmm… I guess we could start by unwrapping it," Riolu suggested. He then unwrapped the cloth from around the Plate and the moment his hand touched the cold stone of the Spooky Plate itself, he just _vanished_. The Spooky Plate dropped onto the ground where Luxio's best friend had just been standing, but now he had just dematerialised.

"R-Riolu?!" Luxio couldn't believe what he was seeing. This was crazy. Riolu had just disappeared before his eyes!

 _Wait a second! Perhaps that's how you get to the Phantom Garden… If not, I have to go to wherever Riolu was taken and get him back!_

Luxio steeled his courage, and touched the Plate.

Luxio had been through Dimensional Gates before, but his interdemensional journey to the Phantom Garden was nothing like the twisty, swirling vortexes that once brought he and his friends from present to future, and back again. This was even worse. His whole world spun nauseatingly, and his head began to pulse. It felt as though the whole matter he was made from was being deconstructed. Then, it felt as though it was being reconstructed, and that was when he came back to his senses.

Luxio looked around. He was in a spooky, macabre place. It was almost like a _graveyard_. Barren and lifeless except for some leafless trees, the Phantom Garden wasn't much of a _garden_. In front of him was Riolu, fighting some weird-looking Pokémon.

" _You should never have come here_!" A large pumpkin-like creature hissed malevolently as it launched a Vine Whip at Riolu, who deftly evaded and struck with a Bullet Punch. His Fighting type moves had no effect on Ghost types, so he had to resort to his non-fighting attacks.

"A little help here?!" Riolu glanced back at Luxio. The latter stopped taking in his environment, and studied the two enemy Pokémon carefully. One was the pumpkin thing, while the other was a tree-like Pokémon with a single dark eye.

"Wait a second, we don't want to fight!" Luxio called out, "We just came here to explore the Phantom Garden and see what it was like!"

" _So did we_!" The tree said angrily, "Then _it_ kept us here!"

"That weird stone!" The pumpkin added, "That's the thing keeping us here! We were explorers like you, now we're just denizens of this foul place! That _thing_ told us to guard its home, and threatened to kill us if we didn't agree to!"

Riolu looked at Luxio. "A stone that can talk? Sounds familiar…"

"Don't you remember in the future?" Luxio said, "That stone thing that attacked Grovyle out of nowhere… It had, like, 1000 spirits inside of it or something?"

Riolu thought back to that time. Perhaps the monster within the stone had taken up a new residence, the Phantom Garden.

"Stop attacking us, you two!" Riolu said, "We think we might have once fought that thing, and it's extremely powerful, sure, but so are we! I think if the four of us attacked it _together_ , we could defeat it! What do you say?"

The pumpkin and tree both considered this.

"I just want to see the normal world again," the tree said, "I have a family back there…"

"As do I. We also have our job at the Spooky Forest Guild… Sure, we're scary Ghost-types, but… I just want to be able to _help Pokémon_ again!"

Luxio turned back to Riolu. "They sound like us!"

"Yeah," Riolu said, "What are your names?"

"I'm Gourgeist!" The pumpkin said.

"Name's Trevenant," The tree said.

"You're explorers?"

"Yes sir," Gourgeist said, "We're Team Spook!"

"Any explorer is a friend of ours," Riolu said with a smile, "I'm Riolu, and this is Luxio. We're from Wigglytuff's Guild! We can help you two get out of here!"

Trevenant and Gourgeist looked at each other, overjoyed.

"Take us to where this odd stone is," Luxio said, "We're going to save the Phantom Garden, and you guys!"

The Phantom Garden was a larger dungeon than they thought. They faced many Ghost-types along the way, and Riolu got to practice facing them and improved his attacks that could face the Ghosts. On the road, they traded stories of their adventures in their respective Guilds.

"Good job, Riolu!" Luxio said to his friend encouragingly, "You're getting really good at defeating ghost types!"

"Thanks!" Riolu said.

 _I couldn't do it without the support of my best friend…_ Riolu thought to himself as they got closer and closer to the end of the Phantom Garden.

Gourgeist and Trevenant held their own as well, countering the Ghost types with Ghost type attacks of their own.

Eventually they approached a large clearing within the Garden. In the middle lay a small stone with a face etched on to it.

"That's it!" Trevenant exclaimed, "The _Master_ of the Garden!"

 **"** **You're damn right, we're the Master!"** An odd mix of voices all spoke at once.

 **"** **Guards, who are these two?"** It continued.

"Don't you remember us?" Luxio said, "We trounced you when you tried to kill our friend!"

 **"** **We have** ** _never_** **been trounced, nor will we ever! You two are** ** _intruders_** **in my home!"**

"Wh-What do you mean you don't know us?" Luxio looked at Riolu, "Maybe this is a different monster held in a stone…"

That was when it hit Riolu. "It doesn't know us… Because we met it in the _future_! All of those events have never happened, and never _will_ because we saved the future!"

Luxio gasped. "You're right! So we know how _it_ fights… But it doesn't know how _we_ fight!"

Gourgeist and Trevenant looked confused about all this talk about the Future, but decided not to get involved, and just try to defeat this stone.

The stone began to shake with anger, and a ghostly form was emitted from it, a purple mist-like substance with eyes and green circles floating inside of it. These green things must have been the souls imprisoned in the stone.

 **"** **We are…!"**

"Spiritomb?" Luxio interrupted.

Spiritomb gasped. **"It seems the stories of our evil and prowess have reached even** ** _your_** **lowly ears!"**

"Enough posturing," Trevenant glared at Spiritomb with rage for his years of imprisonment here in the Phantom Garden. "We're here to take you out and return to our own world!"

 **"** **Traitors!"** Spiritomb hissed, and launched Shadow Balls at its enemies.

"Riolu, stay back!" Luxio commanded, "This thing is a powerful Ghost-type! Remember last time we faced it?"

Riolu was almost defeated by Spiritomb in their first encounter in the Sealed Ruins, as his fighting type attacks had no effect on it, and the rest of his attacks had been too weak at the time.

Riolu didn't step back.

"No, Luxio," He said stoically, "I'm going to help you guys! I want to help these two explorers, because they're no different from us, and it's not fair that this _thing_ has been keeping them here for so long!"

"Riolu… That means so much to us!" Gourgeist said, "Let's kick this thing's behind!"

 **"** **We are just souls held in a stone, so… We don't actually** ** _have_** **a behind!"** Spiritomb said, all the while attacking them with powerful Shadow Ball and Shadow Sneak attacks. It would disappear every so often, then strike from the shadows and deal damage to Luxio and friends. They were finding it hard to land a hit.

"This… Isn't going well…" Gourgeist said.

"Yeah… We need to do something about it!" Luxio said between ragged breaths. He didn't remember Spiritomb being this powerful. Maybe the Sealed Ruins had been negating its power somehow, and it was more powerful in its original home, the Phantom Garden.

Trevenant fired off Bullet Seeds at Spiritomb when it emerged, right before it could attack Riolu. When it was taken aback by the sudden attack, Gourgeist locked it in a Vine Whip.

"Now who's the prisoner, Spiritomb?" Gourgeist laughed.

 **"** **WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT BEING A PRISONER, YOU CRETIN?!"** The thousand souls yelled. **"WE HAVE BEEN PRISONERS FOR** ** _CENTURIES_** **! THAT BLASTED CREATOR LOCKED US IN THIS KEYSTONE BECAUSE WE TRIED TO OVERTHROW HIM, AND NOW WE ARE STUCK WITHIN THAT DAMNED PLATE OF HIS!"**

Riolu actually felt a pang of guilt for Spiritomb. It must have got claustrophobic, having to share a Keystone with 999 other souls. Perhaps if the souls within the Keystone had experienced friendships like those between Riolu and Luxio and even Gourgeist and Trevenant, they wouldn't have become wrathful and power-hungry.

"Care to do the honours?" Luxio asked Riolu.

Riolu looked at Spiritomb. "I'm sorry I have to do this. Perhaps if you 1000 souls had been better Pokémon in life, you wouldn't have had to have been cursed like this. I truly apologise."

 **"** **CURSE YOU HEROES, ALWAYS THINKING YOU'RE DOING THE RIGHT THING!"** Spiritomb yelled, **"YOU WILL HAVE THE GUILT OF HAVING ENDED 1000 LIVES IF YOU DO THIS! DO YOU REALLY WANT-"**

The yelling of a thousand voices died out as Riolu smashed the Keystone with a Bone Rush attack. The souls escaped it, and drifted off to who-knows-where.

Riolu could have sworn he heard a few vague whispers of " _Thank you_ …" as the souls escaped their prison.

"You did the right thing," Luxio said to his friend.

"Now we can return home!" Trevenant said.

"You're the best, Riolu! You too, Luxio! Thank you both so much!"

"It's nothing," Riolu said, "I just feel bad for those souls. We're lucky, you know, because we have strong bonds of friendship with one another. If a Pokémon lives in loneliness too long, it's in danger of becoming like Spiritomb… I want to thank you guys, as well. Without you, Luxio, I would probably still be a cowardly idiot… And Trevenant, Gourgeist… Without you guys' help, we wouldn't have been able to beat Spiritomb!"

"No sweat," Trevenant said happily, "It was the least we could do!"

As the four of them looked around, they could feel the ground beneath them start to decompose. The Phantom Garden was no longer needed to imprison Spiritomb, so it was fading away.

A light began to engulf Riolu.

"Wh-What's happening?" Riolu said.

"I think… You're _evolving_!" Luxio said, amazed.

"Congratulations, Riolu!" Trevenant said, as they all began to fade away too.

"Guys!" Riolu yelled, as he began to both fade away back into their own dimension, all the while changing to a new form, "Thanks for everything, and be sure to visit our Guild sometime!"

"Will do!" Gourgeist replied.

"Thank you both for everything as well!" Trevenant called.

The swirling experience of dimension travel, like water flowing down a plughole, engulfed the four of them. Luxio felt himself pass out due to the nauseous feeling.

Luxio woke up on his bed at Wigglytuff's Guild. Riolu was standing beside him. Except he wasn't Riolu, he was…

"You… You evolved!" Luxio said, full of joy and pride for his friend.

"Yeah, I'm Lucario now," his best friend said. He was taller and more powerful-looking.

"You finally evolved," Luxio was so happy, "I'm glad. Now we're on the same level!"

"The Guildmaster is giving us extra dinner for two weeks because we did so well back at the Phantom Garden!" Lucario said.

"Wow… I can't accept that! I barely did anything back there."

"Wrong," Lucario said, "It was _your help_ that made me strong enough to evolve. Chatot told me that Riolu evolve through friendship, and I believe it was our bond that caused me to evolve, and I want to thank you for being there for me ever since we met. You changed me from a cowardly Riolu who was too afraid to go into this Guild and ask to join, to a powerful Lucario who is a successful explorer… It's all thanks to you, Luxio, and I don't think you know how much that means to me."

"Wow," Luxio said, "No problem, I guess. It's thanks to _you_ that I get to be an explorer and help Pokémon… So thank you, too."

"It's fine, Partner," Lucario smiled at his closest friend, "Now, let's go and do a good job out there today again!"

 **A/N: This was the first side story for The Three Fated Heroes. I hope you enjoyed it, and I wrote it as I wanted to do something for Halloween which is coming up soon. Normal Chapters will resume soon, and there will be more side stories whenever I decide to write them. As for Soul of a Hero, I decided to put it on hiatus again until I can get Part 1 of The Three Fated Heroes finished, and we're only about halfway through Part 1, so I probably won't be uploading Soul of a Hero for a while. Leave a review to tell me what you thought of the first side story, as well as any suggestions for future ones, as I plan to explore some stories of many other side characters within this epic tale. Anyway, have a good Halloween!**


	16. Chapter 13: Gallade and Absol

_Chapter 13_

When Lucario woke up, the first thing he felt was excruciating pain. His whole body ached from the beating he took from Darkrai's minions.

He looked around with blurry vision. There was Luxray and two Pokémon he didn't recognise. They could have been Darkrai's minions, but they definitely weren't the ones they had been fighting, and they didn't seem to be holding Luxray captive.

Lucario willed himself to sit up. He was in a bed fashioned from leaves.

"H-Hello." Lucario managed to get this single word out, then roared in pain again. The agony was coursing through his body.

 _Don't speak. You'll just waste energy,_ a telepathic voice told him.

Lucario looked shocked.

"Most Pokémon aren't used to telepathy," Gallade said, "They all react the same way the first time they experience it."

 _It's not my first time. I just didn't expect it,_ Lucario told Gallade with his mind.

"Hey, Lucario," Luxray said with a slight smile. "You all right? Actually, don't answer that… Gallade, can you explain everything to him?"

"Sure," Gallade said, and went quiet, telepathically explaining to Lucario how they were Vassals to the Creator, and how he and Haxorus were planning on attacking Darkrai as well.

Meanwhile, Haxorus and Luxray were working on a berry mixture to heal Lucario and get him ready for their attack on the Hall of Light.

"So you just arrived back from your mission to find everyone… _Dead_?" Luxray asked Haxorus. The green Pokémon nodded sadly, remembering the horrors he witnessed just a few days before.

"W-Well, yes… But, there was one Pokémon we didn't find…" Haxorus shuddered to think about it.

"Who was that, if you don't mind me asking?" Luxray asked.

"It was… Gallade's sister, Gardevoir. She was a Vassal of the Creator along with the rest of us, but we found all the other Vassals except for her, dead."

"That's rough…" Luxray shivered. "Darkrai's evil cannot be allowed to extend any further. There's a chance that Gardevoir could have escaped and is out there looking for you guys…"

"That may be so, yes. Between you and I, Gallade has been worried sick about her. It's clouding his judgement, and I fear he might push himself too far if he gets near Darkrai. This whole situation is tearing him up."

"I can hear you, Haxorus," Gallade muttered. "And for the record, I'm fine."

Gallade didn't look very fine. In fact, it seemed to Luxray that he and his friend were bearing guilt at being the only survivors of this horrific attack.

"Anyway, here, Lucario, this berry mixture will hopefully help you recover, so drink up…"

A few hours passed and Lucario was able to stand up.

"Are you okay?" Luxray asked his friend.

Lucario gave a weary smile, and said, "Yes, partner, I'm perfect. I'm ready to destroy Darkrai!"

Gallade gave a rare smile. "Let's do this, guys."

"Are you sure you trust us? I mean, we could be Darkrai's followers in disguise," Lucario joked.

"I think I know the Great Heroes Lucario and Luxray when I see them."

"You're too kind, Gallade," Luxray laughed.

The four of them left the hideout, and began the final stretch of their journey to the Hall of Light.

"So, when we _do_ get to Darkrai, what's the plan?" Luxray said, "As in, how do we fight him?"

"With normal moves, I suppose, just like you'd fight any other Pokémon," Gallade said, and then turned to Lucario. "Lucario, you and I are both Fighting types so we're probably going to be most important to the fight. If the fight gets too difficult, I have a _secret weapon_ that I'll use if things get too dangerous."

Lucario smiled back at his new temporary battle partner. "I actually have one of those too, Gallade. If we use them well, we may have a real chance at winning this battle and saving our world."

"Yeah, that's the spirit, guys!" Haxorus said, "We can take down that cowardly heathen Darkrai and free the Creator!"

Time passed, and the journey was not easy, but at last they arrived to the Hall of Light. The entrance was a huge golden gateway carved into the mountain itself. It was imposing, and Lucario and Luxray felt that they were breaking some unspoken rule by entering the Creator's home when he wasn't there, but Gallade pushed open the doors and looked back at them.

"Are you all ready? Are you sure you want to do this, because things could get very dangerous in here. I'd imagine the dungeon is _crawling_ with enemies. If you want to completely regain your strength beforehand, Lucario, that's fine."

"No, Gallade, that's quite all right," Lucario said bravely, "I can handle it, and I'm ready to destroy some of Darkrai's henchmen! It'll be a good warm up!"

The four of them ran into the Hall of Light, a huge structure with long pathways and winding staircases. On the walls were murals that depicted many events of this world's history: The Creation of the World, the Primal War, the Battle of the Distortion World, the Banishment of the Renegade, and the War of Truth and Ideals. One mural particularly caught Luxray's eyes as they walked along the silent halls.

On the left was a majestic, deer-like creature, with antlers lined with crystals. On the right was a flying monster whose body was shaped like the letter Y, with a huge wingspan and a deathly glint in its eye.

"Gallade, Haxorus, who are the two Pokémon in this mural? I've never seen or heard of them before,"

"I wouldn't expect you to know them," Gallade said, "On the left is Xerneas, the Giver of Life. He wandered this world, bringing life to barren lands and blessing places with crops and good fortune. On the right is Yveltal, the Bringer of Death. He is said to have ravaged this world a great many centuries ago, but he was stopped by Xerneas and a third Pokémon, although that Pokémon is not known even to the Creator, as it wasn't Arceus himself who created it."

"A Pokémon that Arceus didn't make?" Lucario said, "That doesn't make sense. He created _everything_ , or so I thought."

"That story is just a myth," Haxorus chimed in gruffly, "Foolish, if I do say so myself. Why would they need a third Pokémon to stop Yveltal if Xerneas was already there? Xerneas was said to be one of the most powerful Pokémon in this whole world!"

"Yes, Haxorus, that is quite true. But anyway, Yveltal is now sealed away safely somewhere far away, guarded by three very powerful allies of the Creator, so he could never repeat his previous actions even if he wanted to."

"That makes me rest easy," Luxray said, "This Yveltal character sounds even more powerful than Darkrai!"

"He probably is. Darkrai was said to be created from another Pokémon named Cresselia's dark half, so he's only really half a Pokémon. Yveltal is sort of like that with Xerneas, but Xerneas is hundreds of times more powerful than Cresselia, so yes, Yveltal is far worse than Darkrai."

Luxray shuddered, imagining what things would be like if they were up against Yveltal instead of Darkrai. If that had been the case, this battle would have been lost before it even started, and the entire world wiped out. He gave a sigh of relief that the Pokémon threatening to destroy the world wasn't the _worst_ Pokémon to do that. He imagined Xerneas arriving to help them fight Darkrai, then snapped back to reality when a group of enemies charged at them.

They were a pack of Mightyena and an Absol leading them.

"Stop right there, in the name of the Destroyer, Lord Darkrai!" The Absol yelled threateningly. The four heroes stopped examining the murals and prepared to face this group of enemies.

"Stand down, Absol! I thought you would have had more sense than to mindlessly follow whoever is in power!"

It appeared that Gallade knew this Absol.

"Who is this?" Luxray asked Haxorus. Haxorus glared daggers at Absol.

"Absol is one of the Pokémon of the mountain, and was a friend to us and the Creator. I can't believe we didn't notice he wasn't among the dead!"

Absol looked over at Haxorus.

"Hello, Haxorus, old friend," He smiled, "I have defected to the winning side. How does it feel knowing that I'm going to turn you and your two famous friends in for an audience with the Destroyer himself?"

"That would be good, actually, considering we just came here to take him out!" Haxorus roared, losing his cool upon seeing how his old friend had so quickly changed.

"That's impossible," Absol said, "Gallade's beloved sister Gardevoir tried to do that, and now she's part of Lord Darkrai's army as well! Sorry you had to find that out from me, Gallade, old friend."

Gallade was fuming. "Don't you _dare_ tell a lie like that about my sister. She is a Vassal of the Creator, now and forever, unlike you, who was rejected to become a Vassal, probably because the Creator knew there was darkness in your heart. I should never have trusted you!"

"Oh, shut up, Gallade, you fool. You're just mad because your sister defected!"

Gallade readied himself to give Absol a beating, and Haxorus, Lucario and Luxray tensed up as well, sensing a conflict about to begin.

"Let's bring these fools in!" Absol laughed cruelly, and the Mightyena sprang into action.

There were six in all. Three charged to Haxorus, and three to Lucario and Luxray, while Gallade and Absol fought one-on-one. The first three hung on to Haxorus, trying to bring him down, snapping at his scaled body with Ice Fang attacks, his weakness.

"Argh!" Haxorus roared, swinging his tail to knock one of them off of him. The Mightyena howled in pain, and the others attacked him in a fit of rage for their brother. Haxorus released an Outrage attack, sending the other two dog like creatures falling into a pile with their brother. All three were down. As he fought the other Mightyena, Lucario gazed in wonder at Haxorus' mighty power in battle. Normally, he seemed like he wouldn't hurt a fly, but when fighting enemies, he wielded monstrous power.

 _I'm glad we're on the same side…_ Lucario thought.

He and Luxray took care of their own opponents with no real problem. Luxray launched Thunderbolt attacks to paralyse them, then Lucario knocked them out with an Aura Sphere.

Gallade and Absol, two old friends, danced around the long corridor, fighting as they went. They were both incredibly fast, and both fired off powerful attacks at the other. Gallade used Close Combat, closing in on his foe with each strike to land another consecutive one, which did a lot of damage to Absol and knocked him back each time an attack landed, but he just bounced straight back, trying to ignore the pain of being knocked around from wall to wall of the Hall, and launched an extremely powerful Shadow Ball attack at Gallade, who was knocked down.

"Gah!" Gallade gasped for air, winded from the force of the attack that had just sent him to the floor.

"If that was enough to wind you, you're no match for Lord Darkrai, you fool!" Absol yelled.

"You're right, he's not!" Lucario called from a few metres away, himself and the others closing in on Absol to join the fight now that they had defeated their own opponents, "But together, the four of us are!"

Absol laughed at this. "Just because you saved the planet from paralysis doesn't mean you're any match for my master, fools!"

"How can you have changed so much over just a few days, Absol?" Haxorus wondered.

"Lord Darkrai will create a perfect Nightmare World and only his disciples will be safe in the end, so it was a logical choice!" Absol replied with a twisted smile, "I will get to watch you all burn when the time comes."

"Shut up!" Luxray let the rage out of him after hearing Absol's sick reasoning for abandoning his old friends and going to the side of the Destroyer.

"Do not be insolent, 'hero'," Absol hissed, "Or I will destroy you with the very gift my master gave me."

"What was this 'gift', Absol?" Gallade said, getting up.

"Something that will give me the power to destroy you all to save my master from the disgust of looking upon you four cretins!"

He nosed inside his furry mane, and emerged with a pendant between his teeth. At the end of this pendant hung a shining stone.

"Wh-What is that?" Luxray asked.

"I think I know…" Haxorus said worriedly.

"Lucario!" Gallade said, "It's one of _those_! Absol can do it to!"

Absol touched the stone, and a light emerged from it, blinding the four of them in the wide corridor. Lucario could hear the footsteps of many other henchmen running towards them, but they meant nothing to him now. All that mattered was the shimmering light being emitted by the stone, and what it would mean for them…

 **A/N: I hope everyone had a good Halloween, and here's Chapter 13 of The Three Fated Heroes. The next few Chapters will resolve the subplot of Lucario and Luxray's mission to the Hall of Light, and then we will return to our three protagonists, and finish their mission to the Hollow Canyon. This Chapter was all right in my opinion, but probably not the best. If you have any criticisms or thoughts, be sure to leave them in a review. Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out the next Chapter if you enjoyed this one!**


	17. Chapter 14: Mega Evolution

_Chapter 14_

Darkrai watched the battle unfolding in the lower floors, and witnessed Absol using the stone.

"Damn it!" Darkrai yelled. "I know it's powerful, and those heroes need dealing with, but I want to do it myself! They should suffer the same fate as the Creator for coming into my home and trying to attack me! Zweilous, go and call Absol off! Tell him not to kill them, and to just bring them to me!"

Zweilous, a two-headed dragon, was Darkrai's lazy, irritable bodyguard. He was only fighting for Darkrai to be spared from the Nightmare World, which may have been cowardly, but he was a good Pokémon at heart, despite his appearance.

"Yes, sir…" Zweilous said monotonously, and headed off to stop Absol from killing the intruders. A silent Psychic-type Pokémon was projecting the scene with her psychic powers.

 _Lucario and Luxray from Treasure Town… They're famous… It'd be a shame if they were killed_ or _sent to the Nightmare Realm! Maybe I should try and… Help them?_

Meanwhile, the shining light from Absol glowed even brighter, and their enemy began to transform.

"What's going on?" Luxray didn't know what he was witnessing, but Lucario and Gallade did seem to know.

It was then that Absol began to… _change_. It wasn't like ordinary evolution, though, there was something different. It seemed like a more powerful force than normal evolution.

His appearance didn't change all that much apart from the large, angelic, pure white wings that grew from his back.

"Behold, my Mega Evolution!" Absol roared and then threw his head back and laughed. "This will spell doom for the four of you!"

"Mega Evolution?" Luxray couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Yes, Mega Evolution," Haxorus said gruffly, "It's a form of power that transcends regular evolution and allows the user to unlock their full potential of power. The form wears off if the user sustains enough damage, though."

"So… Do we have any chance of defeating Absol in this Mega form?" Luxray asked, as the deranged villain approached them in this new form, and Luxray could have sworn he could feel the power radiating from him.

"Yes we do!" Gallade said, holding out a stone of his own which he had retrieved from his treasure bag.

Luxray looked to see Lucario holding one too, with a resolute expression on his face, ready to put his life on the line for his friends.

"Not so fast, fools!" Absol said.

He pounced at Gallade first, and used Knock Off to swipe his Mega Stone, afterwards doing the same to Lucario.

"They're no good to you now!" Absol laughed.

"You have one?!" Luxray shouted at his friend, who was picking himself up after the enemy's attack.

"Yes, Luxray," Lucario said, "Remember that ace in the hole I was telling you about?"

Before Luxray could answer, the four of them entered the heat of battle as more of Darkrai's henchmen, many Houndour, Misdreavous, Gastly and Poochyena, as well as other Pokémon of various types, entered the corridor of the floor they were on.

"Seize them!" Absol shouted.

"Not today, idiot!" Lucario said, pounding Absol with a powerful Force Palm. The Mega Pokémon shrugged off the attack and retaliated with a Dark Pulse. Lucario roared in pain, and his old wounds from Crawdaunt and the others' attacks ached.

"Don't you _dare_ hurt my best friend, you piece of crap!" Luxray yelled as he brought Absol down and sank a Thunder Fang into him. Absol pushed him off and ripped at Luxray with a Shadow Claw. He was then blasted by a Dragon Pulse from Haxorus, who was also in the middle of savaging a few Dark-types.

"Thanks for the save, Haxorus!" Luxray called, and leaped away from Absol before he could get up and start attacking again.

Gallade ran through the hallway that was now a battlefield, smashing his opponents with strong attacks and slicing through them with his sword-like hands. He got back to Absol.

"Are you so stupid that you want to have Round 2?" Absol taunted.

"I just want to take back what belongs to myself and my friend," Gallade retorted coolly.

"You can have them if you can catch me!" Absol sneered, and disappeared into the crowd of battling Pokémon. Gallade fought his way through them all with speed and agility, trying to catch up to Absol and get their Mega Stones back. If Gallade had not been so stupid as to forget Absol knew Knock Off, he would be able to Mega Evolve and he and his would probably be facing Darkrai by this time.

As Lucario, Haxorus and Luxray also battled the oncoming surges of henchmen, Zweilous entered the packed corridor. He needed to find Absol and tell him not to kill the heroes before it was too late.

 _Damn it… Where is he?_

Zweilous took to the sky and hovered, scanning the area for Absol. He found him after a few minutes, and closed in on him.

"What do _you_ want?" Absol sighed, "Can't you tell we're all busy here? Go back to the Master, you lapdog!"

" _I'm_ the lapdog?" Zweilous said nastily. He detested Absol, even after only knowing him for a few days. He was cocky and full of himself, and had a tendency to go too far.

"Anyway, the Master said you're not to kill Gallade and the others," Zweilous told Absol, "He wants them alive, and wants to send them to the Nightmare Realm!"

Absol cursed. "Fine… I'll just horribly wound them."

Disgust twisted inside Zweilous' stomach. Absol was a Pokémon capable of atrocities, and had a Mega form, so in the state he was, Zweilous had no chance of survival against him. He had to _try_ , though. He was sick of fighting for the wrong side, and wanted to fight for justice, just as these heroes did. It was against his moral code to kill, and the Nightmare Realm was a fate far worse than death.

His two heads snapped at Absol as if by reflex, and, before he knew it, he was fighting. He launched Dragon Rage, a beam of powerful energy zooming at Absol. The Mega Pokémon shook off the attack as if it was nothing.

"Zweilous…" Absol said, "What do you think you are doing, you traitorous little sneak?"

"Hypocrite!" Zweilous spat, "A _friend_ of the Creator, turning to the side of the enemy as soon as he is gone? That's what I'd call a traitor!"

" _Found you_!" A voice shouted, and Gallade appeared on the scene.

"This is a bad time, Gallade!" Absol hissed, "I'm busy sorting out a little two-headed rat!"

"I am no rat," Zweilous said, "I am a _dragon_!"

Zweilous fired an Outrage attack at Absol, and when he was recovering, Gallade battered him relentlessly with Close Combat, almost breaking the walls with the force of the blow when Absol collided with it.

Absol reverted to his original form, but still stood. The Mega Stones were lying on the ground a few metres away. Gallade picked them up before Absol could hobble his way over to them.

"Thanks for the help," Gallade said, "You are…?"

"Zweilous," the two-headed dragon answered, "I was Darkrai's bodyguard, but it seems that I have just now abandoned that post."

"Very well," Gallade said. "Come on, Zweilous. You're fighting for _our_ side now. Let's show these fools what defeat feels like!"

Absol, moving slowly, tried to follow them as they sprinted back into the fray.

"I'll get you, Gallade, you fool of a Vassal!"

"Zweilous, you coward!" Darkrai flew into a rage, "What does he think he's doing?!"

"I don't know, sir," The Psychic type Pokémon next to him said, "But I know that Absol has failed to capture them, sir. We are losing to these four… Well, actually, five counting Zweilous, sir…"

Darkrai sighed, "Drat! I'll just have to go down there myself. Teleport me down there, and you come with me…"

"As you wish, sir," The Pyschic-type said, and grasped Darkrai's arm. They then disappeared from Arceus' former residence at the top floor of the Hall of Light…

…And down into the corridor where many of Darkrai's henchmen now lay defeated. Absol's eyes widened, as did the five heroes', particularly Gallade's.

"Sister?!" Gallade shouted.

The elegant, feminine-looking Psychic Pokémon standing at Darkrai's side was none other than Gallade's sister, Gardevoir.

"I told you, Vassal," Absol snickered, "She's playing for our team now."

Gardevoir appeared not to recognise him, or notice his shock. If she did recognise her brother, she did a very good job at hiding it, as she simply looked straight ahead. Her Master opened his mouth to speak.

"Well met, heroes," Darkrai gestured grandly with his hands. "I gather that you have come to try and… Dethrone me?"

" _Dethrone_ you?" Luxray roared, "More like _destroy_ you! We're here to end your life, and thus return our Creator to his rightful world!"

"Ah, yes, Arceus the Creator, the guardian of this world…" Darkrai smiled, "Do not worry, great heroes, you will all be joining him soon."

His eyes turned to Zweilous.

"And you," He said darkly, "You have committed the worst crime of all, _betrayal_. I valued you as my bodyguard for a long time, Zweilous. You betrayed that trust, and now you must suffer the same fate as these fools. Was it a good choice?"

"You and your henchmen destroyed my homeland!" Zweilous roared angrily back at his old "Master", "My life was peaceful until you came along!"

"Oh, shut up, you fool!" Darkrai said, "You came to me of your own free will!"

"And now I'm _leaving_ you by my own free will!"

Absol slunk over. "Traitorous cretin!" He rasped, "Never have I seen such dishonour!"

"Shut up, Absol," Gallade defended Zweilous.

"At least he's not just freeloading off of Darkrai's power, you bully!" Luxray added.

Absol roared, a primal sound of pure rage. "I will destroy you _all_!"

"No, Absol," Darkrai, the so-called "Destroyer", said, "Leave them to me."

The five Pokémon tried not to let their courage waver as the biggest threat to the Pokémon world stood before them, ready to fight, ready to send them into his self-constructed Nightmare Realm.

 _Power just_ emanates _from him_ , thought Luxray, _And not any kind of power I've felt before. This is_ dark _power, far worse than that of Dialga way back when!_

"Shall we, gents?" Darkrai laughed a laugh of pure evil.

Gallade looked around at his randomly put together team of freedom fighters. Two Vassals, two Guild members and an ex-henchman of the very force they were up against.

"Let's do this, guys," Gallade said.

"Ha!" Absol laughed from the side. "You don't have a chance, old friend!"

"Don't be so sure, Absol," Gallade retorted, "If you're the best henchman he can throw at us, I think we might be all right."

Absol muttered darkly under his breath. Gallade took one last look at Gardevoir. He needed some way to get her back from Darkrai, as well. She was his sister, for Arceus' sake. She wasn't herself, either. Something was definitely wrong with her. She avoided his eye contact persistently. Gallade then turned his attention to the patiently-waiting enemy in front of them. He tossed Lucario his Mega Stone, then held his own Galladite in his palm.

"Give me back my sister, you _monster_!" He roared, and the five of them launched attacks on the Destroyer at once…

 **A/N: This Chapter introduces the awesome power of Mega Evolution. It also sets the scene for the conclusion of the Hall of Light arc, and I really enjoyed writing it. There is some pretty cool conflict in this Chapter, and I'm really liking Absol as a character, so you can expect to see more of him. The next Chapter will wrap up Lucario, Luxray and friends' mission, and I think the ending I have planned will be one of the best, most dramatic points of the story so far (I know it started off quite slow but I feel that it is starting to pick up, as Part 1 heads towards its next phase). Chapter 15 will be coming soon, and, as always, thanks for reading.**


	18. Chapter 15: A Losing Battle

_Chapter 15_

Their attacks made contact with Darkrai, but the phantom-like Pokémon seemed not to feel them. The Destroyer laughed.

"You think puny attacks like that can faze me?"

Gallade and Lucario both began to transform simultaneously. Lucario gained a hairier body and tail, red palms and black markings around his body. Gallade gained a cape on his back and a sharper arm-blade. Luxray remembered an old anime show he used to watch back in the human world. Gallade's arm resembled the disk-like machine players used to store their monster-summoning cards.

 _Why am I remembering that show at a time like this?_ Luxray chastised himself. _My life is on the line here!_

 _Stay calm, all of you_ , Gallade sent the telepathic message across all of them. Zweilous was shocked, as it was his first experience of telepathy, but he stayed cool. Gallade had to admire the way Zweilous was standing up to his old Master without hesitation.

"Even with your Mega forms, none of you are a match for me!" Darkrai said, firing Shadow Balls at the group. Luxray send them flying back at him with Electro Balls. These seemed to damage Darkrai a little, and he grew angrier.

"You… Fools… What gives you the right to attack _me_?"

"What gives you the right to try and take over this world?" Lucario said, as he and Gallade launched a combined Close Combat and Aura Sphere attack, where Lucario fired an Aura Sphere, and when Darkrai was taking the force of the blow, Gallade rushed him with Close Combat.

"Master!" Absol shouted. "Are you all right?!"

"Shut up, Absol!" Darkrai muttered, holding himself with the pain.

Gardevoir stood at her Master's side and pressed a hand to his shoulder, healing the damage done by the attack. He got up and switched to his two-legged form.

"That was a really stupid thing to do!" Darkrai shouted, "I'll admit, you jokers are strong, but now I know not to hold back!"

He fired a huge Dark Pulse, and the circle of darkness that was emitted engulfed the five heroes. The sheer power of that single attack sent all five of them down, even Lucario and Gallade in their Mega forms, which they were trying hard to remain in.

"How does it feel to know you're doomed to a Nightmare?!" Absol taunted. His Master laughed at this.

"You are quite right, Absol. Now, any last words before you are sentenced to eternal torture in my Nightmare Realm?"

"Even if you do send us there," Lucario said, "There are still hundreds, even _thousands_ of heroic Pokémon who would carry on the fight until you are wiped out, fiend!"

"Guys," Gallade said, "As much as it hurts to say this… We need to take out _Gardevoir_ first to stop her from healing him!"

"Yeah, you're right!" Haxorus agreed.

"You're really still planning as if you can win this fight?" Darkrai laughed again. "Gardevoir, show them how high above these idiots you are!"

Gardevoir took out… A Mega Stone.

"Sis… I didn't know you had one of those, too!" Gallade exclaimed.

Luxray looked at Haxorus. "Does _everyone_ have a Mega form except _us_?"

Haxorus gave a slight laugh despite himself. "Seems that way."

"Hey, you two, shut up!" Darkrai said, firing a Shadow Ball in their direction.

The "dress" Gardevoir had grew wider as she Mega evolved. She then emitted a piercing scream that seemed to shake the ground and rattle the walls of the Hall of Light.

"That's Hyper Voice!" Gallade said, covering his ears. They all followed suit, but Haxorus most of all screamed in pain from the deafening sound.

"With her Pixilate ability, it particularly effects Dragon-types like him," Darkrai explained. "Haxorus, Vassal of the Creator, is hurt so badly by mere _sound_?"

Then the attack impacted Zweilous, twice as badly considering he was also Dark type. He roared in agony, to which Darkrai and Absol laughed. He was a traitor in their eyes, and this extreme pain was his punishment.

Gallade and Lucario could hold out no longer, and were forced to change back into their normal forms.

"Gardevoir! Why are you doing this? Why are you helping him?"

Gardevoir remained silent. Gallade couldn't believe this. First one of his best friends was attacking them, now his own sibling. This cold look in her eyes was nothing like the warm, caring, happy look she always used to wear.

"Gardevoir! I know you can hear me! Look at me! What's happened to you?"

Darkrai fired off another Dark Pulse at them, to shut Gallade up.

"Your sister saw the light, or in this case, the darkness." Darkrai said, "She came to me voluntarily."

"You lie!" The Vassal shouted, then clutched himself. All the pain the hero had put his body through since their group had arrived there was catching up to him.

"Gallade, calm yourself," Haxorus said kindly, "Nothing good will come of just rushing in angrily."

"But that's my sister, you don't understand!" Gallade was on the verge of breaking down. Luxray, Zweilous and Lucario were worried for their comrade, too. Absol was smiling sadistically, enjoying Gallade's pain.

"I know, I know, but do not fear, soon all the bonds you had in this world will be meaningless, as you will never see it again," Darkrai lifted his hand to ready his Nightmare attack at last.

This looked like the end for Gallade and friends. Gallade was terrified, trying to think of a way to get them out of it. He looked pleadingly at Gardevoir, but again his sister pretended not to notice.

Gardevoir fired a Moonblast while her Master prepared himself, which again affected Haxorus and Zweilous extremely.

"Gardevoir, you're just as bad as the rest of them!" Zweilous shouted as he tried to hold himself, "Being a Vassal, I thought you were different!"

"It's ready!" Absol yelled excitedly. Darkrai had gathered enough energy to launch the attack.

"We… Should never have come here…" Luxray said, pain coursing through his entire body.

"Luxray… Don't worry… I've got a plan."

" _What_?" Lucario's four friends were astonished at his optimism, just at the very time they were doomed to failure.

"What is this plan, Lucario?" Haxorus said.

"It can't be…" Zweilous muttered, "You really think you can save us now? Sure we tried, but…"

"Lucario!" Luxray said, as Darkrai prepared to launch the same ray of dark energy he used to send Arceus to the Nightmare Realm. "What's your plan?"

"If I told you…" Lucario said, "You would try and stop me!"

Darkrai fired his beam of black energy, and that was when Lucario moved. His friends gasped as they realised what he was going to try and do.

Lucario sprinted towards Darkrai, with an Aura Sphere in hand. He was going to try and hold back the Nightmare attack.

" _Run_!" He yelled, "All of you, just run! Report to Exploud, tell him we're going to need a lot more than just us to take on Darkrai!"

"Lucario, NO!" Luxray shouted as his best friend held back the beam.

"Just run, Luxray. It's better that one of us gets sent to the Nightmare Realm than all five of us. Hurry up and get out of here!"

"But-"

"Luxray, come on, he's right!" Gallade shouted.

Luxray turned and looked back at Lucario. Lucario winked at his best friend and gave the same smile Luxray had seen on the beach near Treasure Town all that time ago.

"Lucario!" Luxray called back as they hurried out while Darkrai was focused on the attack. A look of pure disgust could be seen on the Destroyer's face as Lucario fought to save his friends.

"Goodbye, all of you!" Lucario shouted. "Until we meet again!"

He could hold back no longer. The Nightmare attack struck him, and he dropped like a fallen bird. Then he was… _Gone_.

"You monster!" Haxorus roared at Darkrai, "We will be back for you! This isn't the last you'll see of us!"

Luxray ran as fast as he could, tears running down his face for Lucario. They descended the stairs and disappeared from the corridor where the most difficult battle of their lives so far had taken place.

"You're right, it's not!" Darkrai said. "Absol, after them!"

"Yes, sir!" Absol shouted.

The four of them raced through the empty paths of the Hall of Light, knocking out the occasional henchman on the way.

"Absol is following us!" Zweilous told the others.

"We need to outrun him so we can stop and Teleport!" Gallade said, breathing raggedly. They were all exhausted, but they needed to escape if they wanted Lucario's sacrifice to have meant anything.

After a few floors they stopped.

"I think we made it," Gallade said, "I'm going to Teleport us to me and Haxorus' hideout, then I'll take some berry mixture to give me enough energy to teleport us to Treasure Town! Luxray, would Exploud mind?"

"Not at all," Luxray assured him.

"Good," Gallade said, "Everybody join hands!"

"Not so fast," Absol's sneering voice echoed.

The Dark-type was bounding towards them, charging up a Razor Wind attack. Gardevoir was coming not far behind, already firing Moonblasts which the heroes avoided.

"You will never escape, fools!" Absol threatened, "We'll drag you back to Lord Darkrai and you'll suffer the same fate as that stupid fool who tried to save you!"

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK THAT WAY ABOUT LUCARIO!" Luxray roared between sobs.

Absol launched his Razor Wind, striking the already-beaten Luxray to the ground. The famed hero of Exploud's Guild stood up once more defiantly and went for Absol. Gallade held him back.

"Leave this to me," Gallade said, "I can't Mega evolve right now, but neither can he. He might not look it, but he's weak from the last battle. I'll cut him down where he stands!"

"Big talk from a fool who can't accept that his own sister took the logical step for survival!" Absol mocked.

Gallade had had enough. He charged towards Absol and let loose with a Slash attack, his extendable blade hand moving so fast that even the exceptionally speedy Absol couldn't avoid it. The Slash attack sliced Absol's face, making quite a large cut near his right eye. Absol roared in pain.

" _Fool_!" Absol shrieked, "You _dare_ to mar my perfect face?!"

Gallade smiled, "That'd be the very least I'd do if I didn't have other places to be. Goodbye, Luxray. Oh, and Gardevoir?"

Gardevoir had stopped firing Moonblasts and for the first time she made contact with him.

"I'll be back for you. I'll rescue you from this corruption. I promise you."

His sister remained expressionless, but Gallade knew that somewhere deep down the real Gardevoir could hear him.

"Goodbye,"

Gardevoir didn't stop them, but pretended to for Absol's benefit, launching a few badly-aimed Dazzling Gleams.

The four of them locked hands.

"Have fun slaving away like a coward!" Were Zweilous' final words to the raging Absol, who was bleeding profusely from Gallade's Slash.

The next moment they were in Gallade and Haxorus' hideout on the Mountain of Deities, where only a few hours ago they had headed off in hopes of defeating Darkrai and securing an early win for the forces of justice. Now, they had lost Lucario, and were all exhausted. They had fought a losing battle in the Hall of Light, and the loss was having its effect on all of them.

Luxray lay there, silent, thinking of those last moments when Lucario fought to give them a chance to escape. They had taken the chance, but now Gallade had to make a speedy recovery so that they could head for Exploud's Guild. Zweilous and Haxorus had also suffered grave wounds by Gardevoir's hand, and morale was low. They didn't blame Gallade for his sister attacking them.

Gallade himself, however, was facing physical and mental difficulties, and the berry mixture was only helping the physical ones. He thought of how he had blindly led them into huge danger in the fight against Absol, and how he had selfishly rushed into even more danger because he wanted to try and bring his sister back to her senses.

He thought of Gardevoir, the silent figure standing there, attacking his comrades and avoiding his eyes. She could have been being controlled by some force, but he couldn't think of any Pokémon with the kind of power to completely take over another Pokémon for an extended period of time such as that.

His sister had let them go free, as well. What did that small act of compassion mean? Part of his sister was still in there somewhere, and he had meant what he said. He would keep putting himself in situations where their paths would cross, as many times as possible, until he successfully brought back his sister.

And then there was Lucario. He had bravely sacrificed himself so that they could get out alive. Gallade swore to himself that he would work with the Pokémon of Exploud's Guild and any other ally Pokémon to help bring back both Lucario and the Creator.

"I can feel my strength returning," Gallade said, "We'll be ready to leave soon."

"Good," Haxorus replied, "But don't strain yourself, old friend."

"Yeah, we still have time to recover, I don't think anyone's giving chase, anyway. I think we're out of the danger zone," Zweilous added.

"Hey, Luxray," Gallade looked at his new friend concernedly, "Are you all right? I know it must have been hard seeing your best friend disappear in front of you."

Luxray had gotten up, but was still shaking. "Y-Yeah… I'm just shocked. Lucario shouldn't have done that, but he just wanted us to get the information back to Exploud that we'd need more people to launch an assault, and that he has allies who can Mega evolve," Luxray considered his next question for a moment, then said, "How did you get the ability to Mega evolve, anyway, Gallade?"

Gallade was silent for a moment, then responded, "I use this to Mega evolve," He showed Zweilous and Luxray his Galladite, "Certain Pokémon can evolve with their own specific Mega Stone. There isn't a Mega Stone for every Pokémon, or at least not _that we know of_."

"Mega Evolution is a great ability," Luxray said, "If we made a lot of allies with the ability, we would have a good chance at combatting Darkrai's forces and winning."

"True, but Mega Stones are extremely rare," Haxorus said.

"Anyway, enough talk, I'm ready to Teleport to Treasure Town." Gallade told them all.

They joined hands again, and left the place of the most difficult battle of their lives behind them.

 _We'll be back,_ Luxray thought as the four heroes vanished.

"I'm sorry, Master," Gardevoir said, "We couldn't get them… They teleported."

"That bastard Gallade Slashed me!" Absol said, "I'll never win a beauty contest _now_!"

When Gardevoir and Absol entered the top room of the Hall of Light, where Darkrai normally resided, he was talking to Rhydon, who was fighting Lucario and Luxray on the mountainside, as well as two Meowstic, a male and female, and Pyroar.

"Never mind them, Absol, we'll get them some other time," Darkrai said. "Right now, we're planning our next move on the fools who resist us."

"You mean… The attack on Lunar Island?" Absol asked.

"Precisely," Darkrai smiled cruelly, "The very attack that will bring the downfall of that wretched Cresselia whom I was born from, giving me twice the power I have now!"

Rhydon, Pyroar and the two Meowstic bowed to him.

"Go, now, and rally your troops," Darkrai commanded, "You set off _immediately_! Bring Cresselia to me!"

They left the top room after a second bow and a courteous mutterings of, "Yes, Lord Darkrai."

Absol smiled at his Master.

"This scar will be worth it… When I get to watch Gallade and the rest of those fools _fall_."

 **A/N: So ends the Hall of Light arc, and probably my favourite Chapter so far. Did you guys like this arc as a whole, and what did you think of the ending? Big things are coming as we get ever-closer to the end of Part 1. Next Chapter will resume the story of Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie, Slowpoke, and Shaymin. That will be coming in a few days. Thanks for reading, and leave a review if you enjoyed!**


	19. Chapter 16: The Boss of the Canyon (1)

_Chapter 16_

While Lucario, Luxray and their new friends were fighting for their lives and for the good of the world inside the Hall of Light, Chespin and his team were in a battle of their own as they headed towards the Pokémon known as Alakazam in Holydawn Town.

Granbull was in a fit of rage. He roared with humiliation after his battle with Froakie a few hours before.

"Just _our_ luck that the punks who brought in Linoone have an _assassin_ in their midst," He grunted, "I'll show that little brat who's boss! Who does he think he is, getting all uppity just because he's in the Shade Syndicate!"

"He beat us pretty badly, boss," A Vigoroth said, "The brat's got skill."

"Ah," Granbull smiled, his mood changing, "But I just remembered _another_ way we could get him, and the rest of them, killed. Tyranitar wouldn't be able to trace the blame back to us for killing his precious little protégé."

"How would we do that, Boss?" Purrloin asked sweetly.

"The Hollow Canyon is considered the territory of a certain Pokémon, who happens to be a very old friend of mine. He lets other Pokémon use it as a home in exchange for Poké. If we show up and warn him about the intruders coming, he and his subordinates will stop them in their tracks on their way through the Canyon. Look at it this way: We get revenge, but we don't get our hands dirty."

"That's a genius plan, Boss," Purrloin complimented her leader, but none of the other Pokémon paid attention.

"Wait, so by that Pokémon in the Canyon… You can't mean…?"

"Yes," Granbull said, "Aggron…"

Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie, Slowpoke and Shaymin woke up, and went on the road again. Froakie didn't tell any of them about the events of last night, and didn't intend to _ever_. Some things were better off unknown, he decided.

"How far do we have left?" Chespin asked Fennekin.

"Not far, now!" Fennekin smiled, knowing that their long, arduous journey was almost over. All they had to do was get through the reputedly dangerous Hollow Canyon.

"We need to get to the Canyon today!" Shaymin insisted, "The Gracidea will almost be in bloom, and I can't miss it!"

"Yeah, we get it, you're in a rush," Chespin sighed, "Isn't everyone?"

Then he and Shaymin launched into an argument over the importance of the Gracidea. Fennekin attempted to mediate, and Froakie just watched and laughed, telling Fennekin that there was no way to make those two get along, and that they just naturally disagreed, probably because they were both so strong willed.

Slowpoke was quietly trudging along, and seemed to be in a great mood as his journey was almost over. He was excited to finally learn how to evolve.

As they walked, Froakie suddenly remembered the things he heard Shaymin telling Fennekin the night before, about her and her partner Keldeo. He knew how it felt to lose people you were close to, so he found himself understanding why Shaymin was so cold all the time.

"Are you excited to almost be at Holydawn, Slowpoke?" Froakie asked his friend.

"Er… Yes, I am. I can't, er… Wait to, er… Meet Alakazam."

"That's good," Froakie said with a smile, "I'm glad to know that we've almost reached our destination."

As they climbed a hill, Chespin reached the top and looked across the landscape.

"There it is!" He shouted. "I can see it! The Hollow Canyon!"

He could see the figures of many Pokémon there, moving around and going about their lives. They looked so small from there.

"Come on, gang! Full speed ahead!" Chespin yelled, charging down the other side of the hill, eager to reach this exciting, dangerous place.

"He's so full of energy," Fennekin sighed.

"He sure is a handful. It's cute, though, wouldn't you say?"

Fennekin blushed. "N-No! I mean, maybe a little, but…"

Chespin was so far down the hill already that he didn't hear what Fennekin was saying. The rest of them did though, and laughed.

"Come on, guys, it's not that funny! Jeez…" Fennekin sighed even though she was laughing with her friends.

"You don't do a very good job of hiding your feelings, Fennekin," Froakie smiled humourously, "I knew since the first time I ever saw you two together…"

"What?!" Fennekin said, "You really knew? Maybe he does, too, then…"

"I wouldn't bet on it," Shaymin laughed, "He's not all that bright!"

"Er… I think he, er… Likes you back!" Slowpoke mumbled.

"Guys, can we please just drop this? Come on, we're nearly at the Canyon! Full speed ahead, right?" She grinned sheepishly as they all headed off to catch up to Chespin.

"Oh, Great Aggron, Boss of the Canyon," Granbull greeted the Pokémon before him. He and his group were in the Hollow Canyon, and were meeting Aggron atop a cliff.

Aggron was a huge Pokémon with a body of rock. He was chewing some metal as he acknowledged Granbull and his gang, and was accompanied by two Lairon and four Geodude at his side.

"Granbull, it is good to see you in these parts again," Aggron smiled at his old friend. "How is Linoone?"

"Linoone was… Imprisoned." Granbull almost choked up as he said that last word, "Actually, that's what I came here to talk to you about?"

"If you want me to try and bust him out, I'm sorry, but I can't do that. I'm only the Canyon Boss because Klinklang and I have an agreement that I'll keep the folks here out of trouble in exchange for him not meddling with my affairs. If I were to launch an attack on his Prison, our deal would be over and my _family_ of Pokémon here in the canyon would be in danger. I have to put my family first, Granbull, old friend."

"Oh, no, it's not about breaking into the Prison! It's just… There's a group of Pokémon that will be coming through here, and they're the ones who imprisoned Linoone. I was wondering if you could…"

"Rough 'em up?" Aggron gave a friendly grin, "I'd be glad to. Linoone is my friend, as well as yours. This vengeance will be from both of us!"

"Thanks, Aggron, it means a lot." Granbull said.

Purrloin whimpered, "Boss, can't we go? All these ugly Rock-types are unfitting for a lady like me…"

Granbull gave her an angry look. "In a second, Purrloin. Also, don't insult Aggron. He's like family to me, just as much as you are!"

Purrloin seemed distraught about the "family" comment, seeing as she always tried to flirt with her boss.

"I'm sorry, Aggron," Purrloin smiled pleasantly, "I was wrong. Any friend of the Boss is a friend of mine!"

"That's okay, kitty," Aggron said gruffly. "Anyway, sure, Granbull, me and the boys will give it to those fools who caught Linoone. They don't know what they're dealing with! Would you and your gang like to stay a while?"

"Oh, no, that's okay, Aggron, we can't impose on your home and family any longer. You've done enough for us. Thanks so much!" Granbull meant this from the bottom of his heart. He was extremely fond of Aggron.

"Hey, no worries. Anything for my favourite Fairy!"

Normally, Granbull would have gotten angry at being called "Fairy". However, since it was Aggron, he didn't care. A few of his gang sniggered, though, so he made a mental note to yell at them later.

"Well, then, goodbye, Aggron. I hope to see you again soon!"

"You, too, old friend!" Aggron said, "And be careful! These are tough times for good, honest criminals like you and I!"

Aggron was once a thief and outlaw, just like Granbull and Linoone, but since then he had turned businessman. He sold rare rocks and items. He even dealed evolution stones to Pokémon who needed them. He and his "family" of Pokémon living in the Hollow Canyon were extremely well off, and although he asked for a small fee for a Pokémon to stay in the Canyon, he shared his wealth with all of his family of Pokémon. They actually lived very happy lives, even if they did a bit of crime here and there.

As Granbull and his gang turned and left the Canyon, Aggron looked at the Lairon and Geodude who were near him.

"Get ready, boys," He smiled, "It's payback time!"

Granbull and his gang were headed back the way they came. Although they were quite a ways off, Granbull could see Chespin's group in the horizon.

"Come on, guys, we'll cut through these woods so as we don't run into those fools!"

They did as he said, and entered the cover of a small forest.

"So, is this the end of that mission?" A Zigzagoon said.

"Oh, this is only the start, my friends," Granbull said.

"What do you mean?" Purrloin said, "We've had our revenge! Those Pokémon are going to get what's coming to them!"

"Oh, I'm sure of that, Purrloin. Those fools from Exploud's Guild have almost been taken care of, but this isn't the last Treasure Town has seen of the Granbull Gang!"

"What are we going to do next, Boss?" Purrloin asked. She was already getting chills thinking of all the crimes she and her boss were going to commit together.

 _Maybe we could even commit… To_ each other _…_ Purrloin lost herself in a fantasy of her and Granbull robbing banks together, and using the money to buy a home far away. Since they were now rich, they could retire from crime and start a family…

"Purrloin, I'm talking!" Granbull interrupted her fantasy, "When you ask a question, it's only polite to listen to the Pokémon's answer!"

"Sorry, Boss, what were you saying?"

"I was saying…Something Aggron said earlier gave me a good idea. We're going to spread ourselves out. We'll leave this place, and go pillage and loot some other places! Then, we'll come back here with a new bunch of recruits in the gang, and we'll come and bust out Linoone from that prison! After that, we'll all do a massive raid on Treasure Town together! How does that sound?"

The whole gang shouted their approval and threw their hands in the air with glee. The thief's life was a grand one, even if you were really bad at your occupation.

"Let's go, Granbull Gang!" Their leader shouted, "Here's to the end of an era, and the start of a new chapter!"

They ran off into the forest, ready to set a course for new places to terrorise…

 **A/N: I got this Chapter finished a lot sooner than I thought I would, so here is the 3rd Chapter of this story in as many days. The next one will probably be at the weekend. There are a few things to address in this Author's Note. First of all, this story has been getting so many views lately, and gained followers and favourites, so thank you all for that. It has reached 1000+ total views. Also, please vote in the Poll on my profile for who the next Side Story should be about, and I might write the next one, or just a future one, about the character that wins that. As for this Chapter, it was mainly just a set-up Chapter for the conclusion of the Hollow Canyon mission. It also had some comedy moments which I thought fitted in well after the serious few Chapters we had. Anyway, I hope you liked the Chapter, and sorry this AN is so long. Be sure to leave me a review if you'd like to tell me what you thought of the Chapter! As always, thanks for reading!**


	20. Chapter 17: The Boss of the Canyon (2)

_Chapter 17_

"This is it!" Chespin called to his friends excitedly.

They had made it at last to the Hollow Canyon. This had been a long journey, and they would be glad to get this mission over with and return home to prepare for whatever new work came their way.

"I can't, er… Believe it," Slowpoke slurred, "We've finally, er… Made it here! Across this Canyon is, er… Holydawn Town!"

"You got that right, buddy!" Chespin smiled.

Fennekin, Froakie and even Shaymin could not hide their excitement at finally arriving at their destination. Although it had only been about two days in all, to them it had felt like a much longer journey. They were young (with the exception of Shaymin) and desired excitement, so a two-day journey across hills and dales, with little to no action, was an arduous task. Now they were itching to run into some wild Pokémon and have themselves a battle.

When they approached the entrance of the Canyon, they were faced by a Boldore.

"Entry fee, please," He said in a bored voice.

"Pardon me?" Shaymin said incredulously.

"By order of the Canyon boss, you must pay an entry fee of 100 Poké each if you want to cross the Canyon. If you want to move into the Canyon as a resident, I can take you to the Canyon boss to negotiate things…"

Shaymin turned round with a shocked look on her face and looked at the others.

"Entry fee?" Froakie asked.

"Let's just pay the fee!" Chespin said, "It's not that much!"

"Yeah," Slowpoke said, "It's just, er… 50 Poké!"

Shaymin was having none of it.

"Since when did a Pokémon have to pay to travel through a natural landscape that is necessary to pass through to get to Holydawn Town?" Shaymin said angrily.

"Er… Since the Canyon boss made it so?" The Boldore looked puzzled. "Come on, lady, don't shoot the messenger! Just pay up and we won't have to make a scene!"

"Preposterous!" Shaymin was fuming at the mere suggestion of paying Poké to cross the Canyon. "I demand to see this 'boss' of yours at once!"

"Very well, then," Boldore sighed heavily, "But he'll just tell you the same as I did…"

Shaymin nodded. "Thank you."

She motioned for the rest of them to follow her, and they entered the Canyon.

The Hollow Canyon was massive. High cliffs stood tall, and had lasted centuries without eroding, and a network of tunnels had been dug as homes for the Pokémon who lived there. Shaymin was astonished. The place where the Gracidea grew had been turned into a civilisation!

Chespin energetically looked around, making the most of this small tour.

"Look, Fennekin, a coal mine!" He pointed towards one of the caves, "Isn't that cool?"

"Yeah, Chespin, it's awesome," Fennekin said distractedly, "What _isn't_ awesome, though, is the looks these locals are giving us…"

Froakie noticed it too. The Rhyhorn, Roggenrolla, Geodude, Aron and other different Pokémon, not always of Rock or Ground type, were eyeing them suspiciously as they made their way around the canyon to meet the so called "boss".

They arrived at the highest point of the Canyon after a good twenty-five minutes of sightseeing and climbing.

Awaiting them was a large Pokémon with grey skin and white iron plates covering its head, back, forearms and knees. He looked intimidating, and was surrounded by an entourage of followers. He gave off an air of royalty and power, so Chespin and friends knew immediately that this must be the Canyon boss.

Boldore spoke first. "Boss, these five Pokémon want to cross the Canyon, but the little one disagrees with the crossing fee."

"Fools!" The huge beast yelled, "Do you know who I am, you little shrub? I am the Canyon boss, Aggron! And not to mention these Pokémon you're travelling with! You picked bad friends!"

Chespin looked baffled. "Do you… Know us?" He asked, before Shaymin could open her mouth to start a fight with Aggron.

"Oh, you bet I know you," Aggron muttered darkly, "Don't you three little punks remember what you did?"

Fennekin panicked, "Listen, Aggron, sir, you must have the wrong Pokémon!"

Froakie knew immediately what Aggron was talking about. He was referring to the capture of Linoone. Granbull and his gang had probably tipped him off that they were headed this way as revenge for their humiliation the night before.

 _It's_ my _fault…_ Froakie thought to himself, horrified.

"I have a reliable source that told me you three landed a good friend of mine behind bars!"

"You mean… Linoone?!" Fennekin realised, "So that's what this is? You're another filthy criminal, seizing control of this land for your own wicked purposes?"

"We did nothing wrong!" Chespin shouted furiously, "Linoone is an outlaw!"

Even Slowpoke, who was calm and relaxed at all times, was perplexed by Aggron's petty grudge.

Shaymin spoke, as she couldn't hold her tongue any longer, "You are being most unreasonable! The Hollow Canyon is a place where Pokémon should be able to live and pass through freely, and shouldn't be under the control of some glorified robber and his posse of subterranean freaks!"

Aggron was losing his cool. "I am no criminal, I am a businessman. The Poké here is distributed equally among all of my family. I make sure that no Pokémon living on these lands comes to any harm. There are orphans here, and families with no other home. Outcasts, and Pokémon with no place to go. Would you really deny them a home?"

"I'm not saying that!" Shaymin cried, "I'm saying that you shouldn't be using the Pokémon here to expand your own control and wealth! What you're doing here is wrong!"

"I've done worse things than you could ever imagine, shrub," Aggron sneered, "Pokémon have been sent to the bottom of this world because of me! But now, I've gone legitimate, giving Pokémon a home and a good life, and you're persecuting me, as well as bringing these three brats and some dopey clod here as backup? That calls for some payback!"

Aggron's group were circling the five of them, anger clear on their faces.

"Thanks, Shaymin!" Chespin said angrily, "We're going to be attacked because of you!"

"Come on, now," Slowpoke said, "We shouldn't be, er… Fighting amongst ourselves."

"Say your prayers, little ones," Aggron smiled cruelly.

Fennekin wondered how their journey to the Hollow Canyon could have ended up with them landing themselves in such danger. Who could have tipped them off about the capture of Linoone? This was crazy.

Froakie eyed the group of Pokémon circling them. There were some Lairon, Graveler, Boldore and even Pokémon like Whirlipede, Joltik, Vullaby, Lombre and Poochyena. They had rounded up quite a big crowd, and more Pokémon down at the lower levels of the cliffs were starting to notice what was going on.

The fight began when Shaymin sent a few sharp Razor Leaves at the whole group of Pokémon.

"Do not underestimate me!" She shouted, "I may not look like it, but I am the Sky Warrior Shaymin! I'll give you some time to reconsider not letting my friends and I pass through if you'd like!"

"Sky Warrior?" Aggron said snidely, "Don't make me laugh!"

"What I'm looking for, the item that reverts me to my most powerful form, is growing probably, say… Right on the other side of this Canyon!" She said, "If I had it right now, you would all be dead on the floor already! In fact, why don't I go and get it right now!"

She turned, and started to move back down the cliffs, jumping from rock to rock.

Chespin was fuming. "She gets us in this situation… And then just leaves us?"

"Calm down, Chespin," Fennekin comforted her friend, "Come on, we have to follow her!"

They started following her. An echoed, "Catch me if you can, 'Businessman'!"

"Big talk from a little shrub!" Aggron said, "Whoever catches them gets paid!"

The chase began. Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie and Slowpoke saw many Pokémon on their tail when they turned and looked back. Chespin was so angry at Shaymin.

"I knew that stupid flower-hog couldn't be trusted!" He yelled as he and his friends struggled to keep their footing on the narrow cliffs. They had neglected taking the trail they had come up on as it was now crawling with Pokémon who wanted to capture them and most likely kill them.

Froakie adeptly leaped from rock to rock, not causing any shaking of them as he went. However, his mind shook with the guilt of causing this whole thing. Sure, Shaymin had brought them to Aggron, but it was he who angered Granbull and beat up his entire gang, causing him to warn the Canyon boss about them. It seemed like he only ever brought trouble to the group. He was going to put a stop to that himself.

Chespin, Slowpoke and Fennekin were struggling to keep up with their nimble friend, and came to a complete stop whenever he turned and leaped back past them, a determined look on his face.

"Where are you going?" Chespin called.

"It's okay, just keep going! I'll meet you guys at the bottom!" Froakie shouted back. He had already disappeared halfway back up the huge Canyon.

As they approached the bottom, footholds became few and far between. Chespin had to leap to each one, then give Slowpoke and then Fennekin a lift down with his Vine Whip. This took quite some time, but eventually they reached the bottom.

"Thanks, Chespin." Fennekin said, brushing herself off after jumping down the final foothold.

"Er… Guys, look!" Slowpoke exclaimed.

They were surrounded. About twenty of Aggron's family were in a circle around them. They were no better off here than they were up at the top of the Canyon. Chespin cursed Shaymin with language he hadn't known he knew.

Meanwhile, Froakie was holding back another storm of Canyon-dwellers, easily dispatching them with water attacks, and the occasional melee attack. He was in the zone, just like he had been when he single-handedly protected his friends from Granbull's gang while they slept the night before. This fight was effortless to him, almost boring. He wished Aggron would hurry up and arrive so Froakie could test the "Canyon boss" out himself.

He got his wish when heavy footsteps echoed down the enclosed tunnel Froakie was fighting his way through. There he was, the huge iron dinosaur-like creature, along with a group of his pre-evolutions, Aron and Lairon. He glared.

"What are you still doing up here, little one? Are you so eager to die that you didn't run away like your other foolish friends?"

"Actually, I came back up of my own will. I'm not like them, you see. I'm stronger. Next to Miss Shaymin, I'm probably the second strongest right now. That means I have the second highest chance of taking you down, you steel-munching monster!"

Aggron swung his tail, sending rocks tumbling down the tunnel. The Aron and Lairon joined in, firing Rock Blasts of their own. Froakie deftly avoided them by jumping over them, and shouted taunts at them as their attacks missed. He fired a few Bubbles of his own.

"You think a few Bubbles will fell _us_?" Aggron asked mockingly. "At least make an _attempt_ to damage us! Or are you just stalling us, and acting more powerful than you are to try and scare us?"

Froakie lost his cool at this comment. He hated being doubted in terms of power. He had devoted blood, sweat and tears in his training with the Shade Syndicate to get to the level he was at today. He had a trick up his sleeve that he hadn't used since coming to Treasure Town and joining up with the team. His main assassination technique, a skill beyond his evolutionary level passed down in his clan.

"You asked for it," Froakie smiled wickedly.

In his hands, there formed a swirling circle of water. It expanded, in turn forming five points, like a star. He fired the Water Shuriken, a move taught to him by his father before the incident. It flew through the air, ricocheting off rocks, and hit one Lairon square in the head. He was knocked out by the force of the blow, something a normal Froakie would definitely not be capable of.

Then Froakie moved, and started launching these Water Shuriken on the fly. Henchman after henchman fell to him, until it was just he and Aggron in the tunnel.

"You're good," Aggron said, "I'm impressed! If you hadn't captured one of my best friends and sent him to prison, I could easily make a home for you in the Canyon! You'd make a great underling- I mean, family member!"

"Ah, so you're a coward! You surrounded yourself with capable Pokémon to shield yourself from the outside world! You're creating your own private army! I've heard of you, Aggron. I know your game. You made a pact with Klinklang a few years back, but really you're just biding your time to relaunch your criminal activities!"

"You're sharp! But I can't have you blabbing to Klinklang, so now I _really_ can't let you escape. You're going to die in this tunnel, kid! I bet you wish you'd just stayed out of my Canyon now, don't you?"

"Not particularly. I have fought Pokémon far more powerful than you! I'm surprised you don't know who I am. Granbull certainly did."

"I don't remember the names of little pipsqueaks like you who think they're powerful just because they can throw some water stars. Could those Pokémon you fought do _this_?"

Aggron reached inside the armour like padding of his forearm and unearthed a small gleaming stone.

"I found this in a far-off place, shortly before I arrived here." Aggron said, "Me and my crew were mining, and we dug it up! Isn't it cool?"

"That can't be… One of those? _You_ have one?" Froakie had only heard about these in stories Tyranitar told him of great assassins who used these stones to transform themselves and gain new extremes of power.

"That's right, fool!" Aggron laughed. He held up the stone in his clawed hand, and a white light shone through the obscure tunnel. Froakie shielded his eyes and braced himself.

Aggron's Mega Evolution was huger and bulkier-looking than the original. His armour looked even more tough and protective. He roared and pumped his fist.

"This feels good!" He yelled, "We businessmen are always seeking the next best thing, and I found it in that mine! Now I'm an invincible force, and no Pokémon can touch me! I am far superior to you little fools! Hell, I could even give the shrub a run for her money, even if she's the Sky Warrior or whatever!"

Froakie was slightly perturbed by this transformation, but didn't show it. He kept the irritatingly cool smile that Aggron hated and would take great pleasure in turning into a contorted expression of pain.

"This should be a good workout," Froakie stretched his arms out wide, "I want to be strong enough to protect my friends from anything, so taking on a Mega Evolved Pokémon is the next step to that goal!"

Aggron sneered viciously. "We'll see about that, fool!"

Meanwhile, Shaymin blasted a huge Seed Flare and knocked several of her pursuers down the edge of the cliff. Hearing the screams, the rest backed off from the Legendary Pokémon and decided this fight wasn't worth it. Shaymin smiled.

"Sayonara, cowards!" She laughed cruelly.

She scaled to the top of the right side of the Canyon, which was green and lush, the opposite of its barren, dreary counterpart.

There it was, in the middle of the luscious grassland. A blood-red flower, infused with great energy. It was in full bloom, and Shaymin's heart was filled with elation just as it was when she first used it. She thought back to that time. Keldeo had been there with her, and had cheered loudly like an idiot when she first took to the air, looping through the sky at breakneck pace.

She pushed back her fond memories of her partner, and slowly walked towards the flower. This was it. Her whole journey had been leading up to this.

She thought of Chespin's anger when she said she had turned her back on this world, and no longer fought for anyone but herself. She then looked down at the bottom of the cliff to the centre of the canyon, where she could vaguely see three specks stuck in a circle of other little forms of Pokémon, fighting for their lives. She thought of how nice that group had been to her, particularly Fennekin. She saw herself in that young Pokémon, but hoped that Fennekin would never have to suffer the pain she had. Right now they were fighting to get out of a situation she had landed them in, so maybe her philosophy of only protecting herself wasn't the right thing to go by, this time.

They had done a lot for her, and kept her company on the road to the Hollow Canyon, so it was only honourable to pay them back.

 _Just this once._ She thought as she headed back to the Gracidea.

She touched the Gracidea, and the transformation happened instantaneously.

She grew antlers, and her whole body turned white apart from her lower legs and a tuft of hair on her head. She smiled. It felt amazing to be back in her Sky Forme, and she felt like she could take down a thousand Aggron by herself.

The Sky Warrior took a running start and leaped down off the cliff. She went into a nosedive, heading down to repay the kind souls who had staved off her loneliness and made her feel like she had friends again, for the first time since Keldeo disappeared.

 _The Sky Warrior is back._

 **A/N: Chapter 17 is here. I've put up about 4 Chapters in the last week, and I'm getting through the story quickly. I wanted to outdo myself with this Chapter, and to be honest I think this is the best Chapter I've written so far that follows the story of Chespin and friends. I really enjoyed writing this Chapter, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it. The Boss of the Canyon has a powerful secret, and I was actually not sure about giving him this power, but decided to in the end. Froakie, again, shows how badass he is in this Chapter once more, and I just love writing about him. Anyway, stay tuned for the next Chapter, and as a side note please vote in the poll for the next Side Story if you want to have the next one be about one of the characters I chose as options. Thanks for reading, and please follow, favourite and review if you like the story.**


	21. Chapter 18: The Sky Warrior Flies Again

_Chapter 18_

Chespin, Fennekin and Slowpoke fought hard against the family of the Canyon boss. Chespin would lift them up and toss them as far as he could with his Vine Whip attack, while Fennekin would trap them in a fiery vortex with Fire Spin. Even Slowpoke helped out, easily defeating the Rock and Ground types with his Water Gun attack. However, they could only hold out for so long.

"This is, er… Getting tiring!" Slowpoke shouted to his friends.

"Yeah! I don't know how much longer we can keep going like this!" Chespin agreed, "Hey, Fennekin, do you have any ideas on how we can take these guys down all at once?"

"I don't," Fennekin said, "But look up in the sky!"

There she was. In all her Sky Forme glory, Shaymin soared through the air towards them, launching Bullet Seeds at the Flying types that were flying around the Canyon, shooting them down.

"Hey, guys!" Shaymin shouted happily, "Don't worry, little hero! The Sky Warrior is here to help!"

Despite himself, Chespin smiled vigorously.

"She made it!" He exclaimed, "She got the Gracidea! We're out of the danger zone!"

"I wouldn't say that just yet!" Shaymin said, before firing a Seed Flare at maximum power, which knocked out the remaining circle of enemies surrounding them.

"Where's Froakie?" The Sky Warrior asked.

"Fighting Aggron by himself, I'd imagine…" Fennekin sighed, "He just can't help himself!"

"He's almost as bad as me!" Chespin smiled.

"Anyway, let's head up and help him. Unless any of you 'family members' have something to say about that?"

Thirty fearful Pokémon averted their gazes. Even the most powerful looking of them, including Golem and Nidoking, didn't try and make a move against them. They had accepted the eventual downfall of their boss. It was sad, because they were deluded that Aggron was doing some kind of good work, but at least now they wouldn't have to continue living under the control of a corrupt "businessman" and paying taxes.

Shaymin, Chespin, Fennekin and Slowpoke headed back up the cliff side, to help their friend.

Froakie cried out in agony as he was sent flying backwards by a rock bigger than his own body. He got back up and glared at the Mega evolved Pokémon looking back at him with a sick grin on his face. Aggron was enjoying his pain.

"This is why you don't mess with the Canyon boss!" He laughed cruelly, "But not to worry, your little friends will soon be suffering the same fate!"

"Fat chance… You'll be up against a… Legendary Pokémon…" Froakie fought to get the words out.

"That little shrub will fall to me, Gracidea or no Gracidea!"

"You… Know about the Gracidea?"

"Yes. I know the legends of Shaymin, I just couldn't believe that little shrub-rat was her! Even she couldn't defeat me and my family!"

"I hate to break it to you," Froakie said, "But we've already taken out most of your family. Now all that's left is you. I've heard if they take enough of a beating, Mega Pokémon are forced to revert to their ordinary forms. Let's try that, shall we?"

Froakie shrugged off the pain of the last few attacks and fired off a round of Water Shuriken at the Canyon boss. He made them large, and packed a lot of power in them. Aggron gave a roar of pain when they made contact with him, five shots relentlessly attacking his abdomen. Perhaps he had been underestimating this one. Very well, then. It was time to get serious.

Froakie ran in for a physical attack when Aggron was still reeling from the force of the blow, but by the time he reached him, Aggron was ready to retaliate. He used Iron Tail and whacked Froakie in the chest, trying to wind him. Froakie cried out once more. This definitely wasn't good. He was being beaten, and there wasn't much he could do alone against the Mega Pokémon.

He thought back to his assassin days, when he would be sent alone to kill Pokémon larger and stronger than he was. Granted, none of the foes of her past were capable of Mega Evolution. Perhaps Froakie was biting off more than he could chew here.

 _Fight, little one!_ Memories of Tyranitar, his unforgiving mentor, flooded back to him. What would Tyranitar say if he saw Froakie getting pummelled like this?

Then he thought of his father. He had been an incredibly fast Pokémon. Froakie remembered learning the Water Shuriken from his father. He had been the youngest family member to ever learn that technique. The second youngest had only managed it as a Frogadier. His father had always said he was _special_ , but Froakie had always thought that was just a word.

He tried once more to damage Aggron with Water Shuriken, but the huge iron dinosaur was ready this time. He caught the Shuriken and fired it back at him. Froakie managed to get out of the way at the last second.

"You won't defeat me like this!" Aggron taunted, "You claim to be strong, but are you really? Wake up and face reality! You won't win against a Mega Pokémon with just a type advantage!"

 _He's right. I need something…_ More _._

He recalled the training his father and Tyranitar put him through. He remembered the focus on speed that both of them had. After all, he would evolve into a ninja Pokémon with unnatural speeds. Perhaps if Water attacks wouldn't help, speed would.

He focused for a moment, dodging an Ice Punch from Aggron. Then, he moved for the attack.

He slipped past another Ice Punch, then Aggron was open to attack. He sent the huge Pokémon reeling back with a punch of his own. He could then feel even more strength welling up inside him. This was the Power-Up Punch attack.

"You sneak!" Aggron said, "Slipping through my defences!"

Froakie smiled. "There's more where that came from."

He sent a flurry of punches and kicks at the large Steel type, and his foe tried to counterattack with Iron Tails and Bullet Punches, but Froakie was a blur to him. Aggron was powerful, but moved slowly. Froakie had figured out this foes weakness, and now the tables had turned. At first glance, his rock-hard body and iron plating would make it seem like physical attacks wouldn't hurt him, but all Froakie needed was to put a lot of force in them. He could feel Aggron getting even slower. This was it! He was wearing him out.

Froakie dazed Aggron by kicking him in the head, then used the time to charge up his biggest Water Shuriken yet. It was time to end this and send him back to his original form.

Froakie fired the Shuriken, but Aggron must have caught on to this. He was probably feigning confusion after the kick. He swung his tail, and the Shuriken deflected once again and this time Froakie couldn't avoid it. He was sent smashing into the wall of the tunnel.

"Don't get cocky," Aggron said, "You really think you could beat me by using the same trick twice? Now it's time to end you, then go after your friends!"

"I don't think so, Canyon boss!"

Froakie looked up to find that his vision was blurred. A green form could be seen. There was no mistaking his loudmouth friend Chespin. He smiled faintly and his vision started to return to him.

There they were. Chespin, Fennekin, Slowpoke and Shaymin. Aggron was outnumbered now, but remained cool.

"Well, if it isn't the Sky Warrior!" Aggron grinned, "Thanks for making my job a lot easier, bringing these little brats back to me!"

Chespin rushed to Froakie.

"You okay?" He asked, concern on his face. He helped Froakie up, and Froakie gave him a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It'll take a lot more than that puny attack to take me down. I've suffered a lot more than that. Anyway, let's finish this off!"

Chespin turned back to Aggron angrily. The Canyon boss merely smiled irritatingly.

"You!" Chespin shouted, "I don't know who told you we were coming here, but we're on official business for Exploud's Guild! Now let us pass, or I'll tell Klinklang about what you did to us!"

Froakie added, "I'll let them in on your real intentions!"

"Do what you want, boys. I find it funny that you think you're getting out of here alive."

Chespin noticed Aggron's Mega form, then turned to Froakie, "Hey, does he _look_ different to you than he did earlier?"

"You idiot… You're only noticing now?" Froakie grinned at his friend, "I'll tell you about it later…"

Fennekin spoke. "It's over, Aggron! Miss Shaymin got the Gracidea and now she has enough power to destroy you!"

"Oh, 'Miss Shaymin' this, 'Miss Shaymin' that…" Aggron said arrogantly, "I'll show you all that no Pokémon is any match for my Mega form!"

"Er, Miss Shaymin!" Slowpoke yelled, "Watch out!"

Shaymin noticed a second too late. From a crack in the ground, quicksand was seeping out. Aggron smiled evilly.

"You fool!" Shaymin cried, "How dare you trap the great Sky Warrior? I could destroy you in a hundred ways! Eek!" The sand started to rise. She was trapped.

"Shaymin, it's okay!" Chespin shouted desperately, "We can take him on our own, that should release the Sand Tomb!"

"Hurry!" Shaymin said, "It's getting deeper!"

Aggron laughed haughtily. "This was all for nothing. Shrub-girl getting the Gracidea, the puny little ninja stalling me. You're all going to die here, and no one will know! I'll play it off as a tragic cave-in accident when you were coming up here to meet the real-life Canyon boss, in person! Really, you all deserve this, after hurting my family…"

"Shut up, you creep!" Fennekin yelled, breathing out a Flamethrower at Aggron.

Then Chespin, Froakie and Slowpoke made their moves. First, Slowpoke distracted him with a Water Gun attack. Then, Chespin caught him in a Grass Knot attack, and threw him into the wall, breaking it open and sending rocks crashing down on top of him.

"This is it, 'Canyon Boss'", Froakie whispered, before dealing the fatal blow with a Water Shuriken. This broke the Mega Evolution, reverting him to his normal form and freeing Shaymin, just before she fully sank and the quicksand could start to spread across the tunnel and capture the rest of them.

"I bet you wish you'd just let us pass through now." Shaymin smiled playfully. She released her signature Seed Flare, and Aggron was knocked out.

"Another criminal, brought to justice," Chespin said happily, "Of course, it was my weighty contribution that saved us all!"

Shaymin smiled at him. He truly was a smaller, more annoying, Grass-type version of Keldeo.

"You did well, little hero. Good job using Grass Knot, I'm impressed you had the knowledge to use an attack that damages heavier Pokémon like Aggron more. I'm just confused about what that form of his was…"

"It was Mega Evolution," Froakie said, "That's what he called it, anyway. He used that Stone in his armour. It's called Aggronite. Some Pokémon can use it to reach a form of power transcending normal evolution. Not much is known about it, though."

"Wow, Mega Evolution!" Chespin said, "Wait a minute, how did you know about it, Froakie?"

Froakie said the first answer that came into his head. "I read a lot." He replied dismissively.

"Sorry I didn't do more, guys," Fennekin said. She really felt quite useless with two strong team-mates like Chespin and Froakie, who could take down a Mega Pokémon.

"It's okay, Fennekin! You fought hard as well against all those henchmen! We wouldn't be here if you weren't around!" Chespin said kindly. Fennekin flushed red. He was so nice and made her feel so nice. Perhaps what the rest of them had been teasing her about really _was_ true.

"Er… So, what do we do now?" Slowpoke asked.

"We're done here. We'll head to Holydawn Town and meet this Alakazam person so you can learn how to evolve, then head back to the Guild."

"Er… Sounds good."

"I miss the Guild," Fennekin said, "I know we've only been away for a while, but this mission felt long. That last battle was really intense."

"Yeah," Froakie said, "It taught me that I need to be stronger. There are other Pokémon who can Mega evolve out there, and I bet Darkrai is recruiting them. Aggron seemed inexperienced in using the Mega Stone. If we ever came across Pokémon who are more used to it, we could land ourselves in big trouble…"

"You're right," Shaymin said, "It worries me too."

"What are you going to do, Miss Shaymin? Are you going to come with us to Holydawn Town?"

"I'm sorry, but no." Shaymin said solemnly. "Seeing you four bright young stars has made me realise what I have to do."

"And what would that be, Sky Warrior?" Chespin said jokingly.

"I have a friend who's missing. I'm going to do my best to find him, even if I have to make it through hell and back, or even face off against Darkrai himself."

Froakie thought of that night when he had overheard Shaymin and Fennekin talking about Keldeo. He was glad that Shaymin was pursuing her dream once more.

"Darkrai himself…" Chespin said thoughtfully, "That reminds me! I wonder if Lucario and Luxray are doing okay! We need to get back to the Guild fast!"

"Yeah, I hope nothing happened to them!" Fennekin said, "Oh! Miss Shaymin, can we ask a huge favour?"

"Anything, Fennekin," Shaymin smiled at the Pokémon who was so similar to her.

"Before you set off, can you take my Explorer badge and warp back to Treasure Town with Aggron and turn him in to Klinklang at the Police Station?"

"That's no problem," Shaymin said, "I'll leave your badge with Exploud at the Guild when I arrive."

"Thanks so much, Miss Shaymin. For everything!"

"Er… Yeah, you really helped us out here in the Canyon!" Slowpoke said happily.

"I concur, we couldn't have done it without her!" Froakie said.

"What are you guys talking about?!" Chespin yelled, "All she did was land us in trouble and get stuck in some quicksand!"

" _CHESPIN_!" Fennekin scolded, "This is the last time you and Miss Shaymin will see each other! Show some respect!"

"This isn't goodbye, though, Fennekin," Chespin smiled at Shaymin. "Not forever, at least! We'll see each other again!"

"That we will, little hero." Shaymin smiled back. Perhaps Chespin wasn't so bad, after all. He could be annoying, but his heart was as pure as they come.

As they walked outside and back down to the bottom of the Canyon, Shaymin lagged behind the rest to talk to Froakie.

"Something bothering you, Miss Shaymin?" Froakie asked, noticing her trailing behind.

"Oh, nothing, Froakie, it's just one thing."

"What's that?" He asked, thinking it was nothing.

" _I know who you are_ ," She said quietly, with an unreadable expression on her face.

Froakie's heart skipped a beat, and a knot grew in his stomach.

"I was still awake last night when you were fighting off those thugs. I heard what they said. I know you're an assassin, and I know who you work for."

Froakie struggled to find words. "M-Miss Shaymin... I'm not… I left them…"

"I don't believe you," She said coldly, "And, to be honest, I don't know who you've been sent to kill, but if you even _try_ to lay a finger on anyone in Treasure Town, I will personally hunt you down and make you wish you weren't born."

Froakie was shocked. "I don't want to kill anyone. I've made a life for myself here. I have friends…"

"You and I both know that sooner or later, if you don't commit whatever atrocity that you were sent to commit, that Tyranitar will come for you."

Froakie's own deepest fears were spoken when she said that. He realised that his new life was just a ticking time bomb that would blow to smithereens when Tyranitar grew impatient. And he knew Tyranitar didn't like waiting.

"You're right…" Froakie said, "Maybe I should just go back… Tell them I couldn't do it…"

"Who are you even out to kill back at Treasure Town?"

Froakie whispered the name in Shaymin's ear. Her eyes grew wide, and then turned to anger.

"You're a good Pokémon, Froakie. I heard what Tyranitar did in your home village all that time ago, and I believe you are fully deserving of this new life. However… You can't let Tyranitar control you. You have to confront him, sooner or later… Before it's too late."

Froakie looked at her with pain in his eyes. "I know, Miss Shaymin… Thank you for making me realise this. It's been an honour to travel with you."

"You, too, hero," She smiled at him again as if that painstaking, paradise-shattering moment had never happened.

They caught up to the rest of their friends at the bottom of the Canyon, Chespin exhausted from dragging Aggron down the trail with his Vine Whip.

Fennekin handed Shaymin her Explorer badge.

"Safe travels," She said.

"Same to you," The Sky Warrior said.

"Thanks for everything." Froakie said.

"Er… Hope you find who you're looking for!" Slowpoke said cheerfully.

Chespin freed Aggron and set his huge unconscious body beside her.

"It's been fun," He said, "Even if you're a brat."

"Takes one to know one," Shaymin said coolly. Seeing Chespin's smile, so like the smile of her closest companion, almost made her well up. Before she let Chespin and the others see her cry, She touched Aggron with her front leg and held the Explorer badge in the toes of another.

"Goodbye, everyone," She said, choking back tears.

"Goodbye, Miss Shaymin!" The rest of them called.

Then the Sky Warrior was gone, back to walking the road of a hero, off to search for her long-lost companion, Keldeo…

 **A/N: I've been so productive in terms of writing this story lately. I really need to slow down and focus on school, though, so this will probably be the last consecutive Chapter for a while. The next update will probably be on Monday or Tuesday, as I need a bit of a break. I feel like the pacing of this is very slow, as the Hollow Canyon arc has been going on for a while. We're approaching the last segment of Part 1, though, so that's exciting. Thanks for reading, and please follow, favourite and review if you like the story.**


	22. Chapter 19: Holydawn Town and Alakazam

_Chapter 19_

"I'm glad to leave _that_ place behind!" Chespin heaved a sigh of relief as they exited the danger-ridden Hollow Canyon.

"At least we made a change here," Fennekin said, "Now the Canyon will be inhabited freely by any Pokémon, and it won't be so heavily guarded. I didn't think that escorting Slowpoke to Holydawn Town would lead us to topple Aggron's 'business' and foil his plans…"

"Er, yeah…" Slowpoke said, "You guys did a really good job back there!"

"So did you, Slowpoke!" Chespin assured his old friend, "We couldn't have done it without you!"

"I'm just an, er… Failure. I've been doing jobs at the Guild much longer than you guys, but you're all so much better than me!"

"Not for long!" Chespin gave a claws-up sign and then pointed to a nearby townland, "Look, that must be Holydawn! This is where we'll find Alakazam and you'll learn how to evolve!"

Slowpoke's dreary tone turned to excitement, "Yes, we're, er… Finally here!"

The four of them sped across the last small grassland before arriving to the gates of Holydawn Town, their destination...

Exploud was about to leave his office to go down to the sick bay and see how the wounded heroes were doing. They had arrived a few hours ago and he was saddened and terrified about the fate that befell Lucario.

 _The Nightmare Realm… Just_ how _can we get him back?_

Sometimes Exploud wished the former Guildmaster Wigglytuff was still around. He would have known exactly what to do. Of course, first he would have had to ask Chatot. But then again, Chatot was gone, too. Not for the first time, he wondered if he would ever see either of them again. Wigglytuff had retired and then left town, but never said where he was going. Exploud really could have used Wigglytuff and Chatot's guidance, now more than ever with the recent Darkrai situation.

"Hey," A voice whispered from behind him.

Exploud turned to see a Pokémon he had only heard about from Lucario and Luxray.

"AAAAAAAARGHHHHH!" He almost jumped with fright from her sudden, silent arrival. Then he realised that there were four exhausted heroes sleeping in the sick bay just below him, so he lowered his voice. "You're… Shaymin?"

"The very same. Pleased to meet you, Guildmaster Exploud. I come bringing a delivery. It's Fennekin's Explorer Badge."

Then Shaymin told him the whole story, about how she had met their group on the road, how they had bravely fought against Aggron, and how he had in his possession a Mega Stone. She debated telling him about Froakie, but then decided against it. He was a good kid, and he would sort things out for himself.

"Mega Evolution… What a terrifying ability."

"You know of it?"

"Only since about three months ago…"

He told Shaymin about Lucario, how he had one day returned from a mission carrying a mysterious stone called the Lucarionite. He hadn't told Exploud the exact details, but when he began training with the stone, he soon became fully able to use it. He then went on to tell her about how he recently went up against Darkrai, and didn't come back.

"Darkrai, eh? He's a nasty piece of work…" Shaymin muttered, thinking of the possibility that he kidnapped Keldeo and cursing herself for thinking of her old partner. Before the tears could well up, she turned her back on the Guildmaster and went to leave from the window from whence she came.

"You know, Miss Shaymin…" Exploud said, "If you ever want to stay here at the Guild, you can. We're a family here, and we accept any and all Explorers…"

"Explorers…" She thought, "Until recently, I had forgotten the meaning of that word."

"You had?"

"Yes," She said solemnly, "But your three young apprentices and their friend Slowpoke showed me what the word meant again. Look out for them, Exploud. Froakie's quick and powerful, Fennekin is sweet, kind and sharp-minded… And then there's Chespin. He has what it takes to be a true hero: Willpower, determination and an urge to help others."

Exploud smiled with pride at his young Guild members. The fact that they had made such an impression on a Legendary Pokémon must have meant that their actions had been truly heroic at the Hollow Canyon. And in these times, heroism was truly needed.

"I'll have to decline your offer of staying with you all for now, Guildmaster," Shaymin continued, "I have something I need to do right now and it's urgent."

"Very well, Miss Shaymin," Exploud smiled, "Thanks for leaving Fennekin's badge with me, and I hope to meet you again one day."

"Likewise, Guildmaster. Goodbye!"

"Goodbye, Miss Shaymin."

The Sky Warrior flew off, leaving Treasure Town to set off on her journey.

 _Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie…_ Exploud thought, _Perhaps they're more ready for_ that _mission than I believed. Either way, I need them back here soon. The very world we live in depends on it…_

Holydawn Town was a nice, pleasant area. The Pokémon seemed kind and amiable, and before going off to look for Alakazam, they had a meal and drinks at Ninetales' Inn. The owner, Ninetales, had even allowed them a free meal, once he found out that they were the ones who had driven Aggron out of the Canyon. His residence there had affected Holydawn Town and the lack of Pokémon coming through from Treasure Town and the surrounding area had decreased profits made in all shops and restaurants.

After eating, they thanked Ninetales and his staff and then headed out to try and find Alakazam's house.

Slowpoke rummaged through his rucksack and unravelled a small map of Holydawn where a red cross marked Alakazam's house.

"That makes things easier," Fennekin said, "Let's go, guys! Hurry, Chespin!"

Chespin was walking slowly, holding his bulging stomach. He had eaten like a Rapidash at the Inn, and was so full he could barely move.

"That food was… Great…" He said between burps.

Even Froakie was the same way. Fennekin couldn't believe that the normally polite, cool and sophisticated Froakie had eaten himself into such a state.

"I'll never understand you guys," Fennekin laughed.

"What's not to understand?" Chespin said, "We need to eat if we want to survive!"

"Yeah!" Froakie said, "We need energy to fight and go on adventures!"

"You too are already really powerful, though…" Fennekin sighed.

"I NEED TO BE STRONGER!" Chespin and Froakie both yelled in almost perfect harmony, then looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"You two are, er… Basically the same Pokémon when it comes to food!" Slowpoke remarked, "That must be why you get along so well!"

"Yeah, that must be it!" Chespin said. They all laughed jovially as they headed to the place marked with the red cross.

When they found the spot marked with the cross, they were pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't actually part of the town, but a beach on the lower side of town that was at the seaside. There, standing on the sand waiting, was Alakazam.

He was a yellow and brown bipedal Pokémon holding two spoons used for telekinesis. He had aged eyes that were solemn and piercing, and his gaze felt like was like he was looking into your soul. He smiled widely when he saw them.

"Greetings, heroes. I had sensed your presence since you headed out from Treasure Town, and I must commend you for your defeat of Aggron."

"Thanks, Master Alakazam," Slowpoke smiled.

"That means a lot." Fennekin said courteously.

"You _knew_ we were out there fighting that _monster_ and you didn't come help?!" Chespin yelled. Fennekin glared daggers at him, whispering for him to shut up.

"Your friend is rather rude." Alakazam said after pondering for a moment, as if it was a puzzle. "But, he is right. I did not come and help you because I find you three Guild members interesting, as well as you, Slowpoke. I see a great future in all of you. I also sensed the presence of the Legendary Sky Warrior, Shaymin. It's saddening that she didn't come here alongside you, as I would have liked to meet her."

"Who does this guy think he is, acting like he knows all about us? Is he even the real Alakazam?" Chespin whispered to Froakie, who looked embarrassed and hoped that this wouldn't lower Alakazam's opinion of him along with Chespin.

"I assure you, Chespin, that I am the real Alakazam." He said matter-of-factly.

"You must know why we have come here, Master Alakazam," Fennekin said formally.

"Yes. Slowpoke wishes to learn how to evolve. Very well, Slowpoke, you shall get what you wish for quite easily. The answer lies on this very beach."

"So, er… Where is it?"

"Follow me, everyone. What you're about to see is one of the miracles of the Pokémon world."

They followed Alakazam for a short distance until they reached the edge of the shoreline. A group of small, oyster-like Pokémon were playing along the shore. These were Shellder, and they smiled up at them in greeting.

"Hello, friends," Alakazam greeted them back, followed by the rest of them.

A larger shell Pokémon emerged from the water. This one was more heavily armoured and had spikes protruding from it.

"Hello, Alakazam. It's a pleasure to see you again!"

"Greetings, Cloyster," Alakazam bowed, again followed by Chespin (reluctantly) and friends.

"What can we of the sea do for you?" Cloyster said amiably.

"Allow me to introduce you to Slowpoke, Fennekin, Chespin and Froakie," Alakazam said, pointing at each of them as he said their names. "They are Explorers from Exploud's Guild. Slowpoke here wishes to evolve."

"Ah, Exploud, eh? Tell your old Guildmaster I said hello!" Cloyster laughed in a jolly fashion, and Chespin automatically liked him more than Alakazam. He seemed very friendly.

"Well, Slowpoke, you wish to evolve, eh?" He continued.

"Er… Yes, indeed, sir!" Slowpoke agreed instantly.

"Very well then. Which of you want to help Slowpoke evolve?" Cloyster then asked the group of Shellder.

"I will!" One of them called.

"Very well. Shall we begin?"

"Yes, let's," Alakazam said, then turned to Chespin and friends, "Watch this carefully!"

Slowpoke stepped forward when asked to by Cloyster, and held out his tail. The Shellder then latched onto it, biting down.

"Ow! Is that, er… Meant to happen?" Slowpoke asked.

"Yes, don't worry, it's all part of the process!" Alakazam smiled.

"Go, Slowpoke, you can do it!" Chespin called out.

Slowpoke smiled back at his friends, then exclaimed as his body started emitting a white glow. He stood up on two legs and a huge shell stuck on his tail. Inside this was the Shellder, firmly attached to his tail still. It would stay like that forever, but every young Shellder wanted to either evolve to a Cloyster, which only few did, or help a Slowpoke to evolve, such was their upbringing. As a result, the Shellder and Slowpoke evolutionary lines were great companions and friends.

Slowpoke and the Shellder had now cooperated to make one entity, Slowbro. Slowbro smiled and looked around at his friends. They all looked very proud of him, and happy that they could manage to complete their mission and help Slowpoke become Slowbro.

"Er… We did it!" Slowbro grinned, "Thank you all so much, Chespin and everyone! You too, Alakazam! Thanks to you, I can fulfil my dream. Shellder, Cloyster, thanks for your help too!" Slowbro then had a shocked expression, "Wow, I said a long sentence without having to stop and think!"

"Yes," Alakazam said, "Now that you and Shellder are fused at the tail, you will find yourself that bit more intelligent. Not as intelligent as you would be had you become a Slowking, but… I think Slowbro is definitely the right form for you. Congratulations, Slowbro!"

"Thanks, Alakazam!" He turned to his friends, "Now, will we go back home to Treasure Town and show everyone my new form! Now I'll be able to be a _real_ Explorer!"

"Why don't you all stay here for a little bit?" Alakazam asked, "Slowbro, I actually have a request for you…"

After they said goodbye to Cloyster and his family of Shellder, they began walking back up the beach to Holydawn Town. The sun was beginning to set, marking the close of another day.

"My request was this," Alakazam began, "It feels quite awkward asking this right now, as I barely know you all, but, Slowbro, would you like to form an Exploration Team with me?"

Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie and Slowbro were all shocked.

"Whaaaaat?" Chespin couldn't believe what he was hearing, "We know nothing about you! You could be a spy, or…"

"Sure!" Slowbro said, extending a hand for Alakazam to shake.

"Really? Thank you so much! There's a certain thing I'm looking for information on, and I believe if I become an Explorer in Exploud's Guild, I might be able to find it… You're a remarkable Pokémon, Slowbro, and I could really use a partner like you! I promise I won't let you down!"

"Excuse me?! Did you just say you could 'use' him?!" Chespin blustered.

"Shut it, Chespin," Froakie said, trying not to laugh at his friend's open dislike for the wise Pokémon.

"I think you two would make a great team!" Fennekin smiled encouragingly, "I'm sure the Guildmaster would be happy to welcome you into our ranks, Alakazam! You're a knowledgeable and powerful-looking Pokémon, so I'm sure we could all learn a thing or two from you! I for one would be happy to have you as a colleague!"

"As would I," Froakie said, "I'm happy for you two, becoming a team together. I'm relatively new to the Guild too, Alakazam…"

"Are you really? But… The way you fought at the Canyon… I felt so much power radiating from you, even from here!"

"Ah, I'm nothing special. Maybe you were mistaking Aggron's energy for mine!" He laughed.

"Don't be so modest!" Chespin said, "You're _really_ powerful! You faced down Aggron in Mega form by yourself before we came along! You did most of the work. Of course, it was _my_ help that allowed you to beat him back into his normal form!" He boasted, sticking out his chest.

"Hey, I helped too!" Slowbro objected.

"That's true!" Fennekin said, "It's rude to boast, Chespin!"

 _There really is some kind of power in that little Pokémon…_ Alakazam thought as he listened to Chespin narrate the fight against Aggron. _That Froakie, too… In his aura, I can see great power, but some degree of inner rage and self-loathing. Something must have happened to him as a child. What's most intriguing is that part of his mind seems_ blocked off, _even to a first-rate telepath like me. There's also some_ extra _power lying dormant? He truly will be a force to be reckoned with once he develops…_

Alakazam shrugged off his confused thoughts and replaced them with happy ones, thinking of how he too was about to start a new life as part of an Exploration Team. Maybe he was finally going to be able to find what he was looking for. He believed that if he did, he might be able to offer a lot in the fight against evil.

Soon, it was time to leave for Treasure Town. After saying goodbye to a few of his friends from Holydawn, Alakazam packed a bag and joined them. Chespin wasn't too fond of this new addition as of yet, but it was always great to have a new teammate. He was extremely happy for Slowbro, as well. He was glad this mission had turned out so well, as were Froakie and Fennekin.

They joined hands in a circle.

"Alakazam, I know you can probably Teleport," Chespin said, "But this is an Explorer's Badge. It can teleport you back to Treasure Town from pretty much anywhere, as far as I know."

"I am familiar with them, but thanks for the explanation."

"Very well then," Fennekin said, "Let's go home!"

The badge shone, and the five of them headed back to Treasure Town, and home to the Guild at last, where little did they know a new mission already awaited them, which would prove much more of a challenge than the previous one…

 **A/N: Chapter 19 is here, concluding the Slowpoke mission, which (unbelievably) started all the way back in Chapter 8 or so. I feel like it turned out all right, but the pacing was somewhat slow (I've said that before). Anyway, I won't be uploading a new chapter until Thursday or Friday because I have an important test on Wednesday as well as homework that needs done. Next time, Chespin and friends will receive the next big mission Exploud has for them. What will it be? Find out in Chapter 20! Thanks for reading!**


	23. Side Story 2: Crashing Down

_Crashing Down_

Luxray and Zweilous were the only two awake on the beds of the hospital wing of Exploud's Guild. Gallade and Haxorus lay sleeping.

To distract himself from thinking of Lucario, and what had happened to him, Luxray turned to Zweilous and asked him something.

"Zweilous, what exactly _happened_ between you and Darkrai that led up to you joining him?"

Zweilous seemed to consider the question for a moment, then said, "Are you sure you want to know? It's a bit of a shameful story…"

"It's fine if you don't want to tell me. I'm just curious…"

"No, I'll tell you. It'll be the first time I've ever told anyone the exact events. Well, it all started before the Creator was placed in the Nightmare, when Darkrai and his forces attacked my home…"

He loved his world. He loved the Draco Canyon, where he and his family and a great many of his fellow Dragon types lived in harmony.

This is the story of how Zweilous' world came crashing down in front of him, and everything changed, thanks to the cruelty and evil of one Pokémon and his henchmen.

That day, Zweilous was training with his little brother Deino out in the wastelands near their home. He was trying to teach Deino how to use Dragonbreath.

"Focus! I know you can do it!" The older brother encouraged, as he watched his younger brother produce small waves of red and blue energy. He was getting there, but it would take some time. Zweilous remembered their father, who was a shiny Hydreigon with a green face and purple crests on his head and body, teaching him that attack. It had only taken Zweilous a few days to master, but Deino had been trying for well over a week.

"I… I can't…" Deino sighed, "I'm useless… I'm sorry, big brother, I just can't help it…"

"Hey, don't worry!" He tried to reassure him, "The ability will come to you when you're ready. It'll take some time, but I know you can do it."

Zweilous had always tried to be the best brother he could to Deino. Their father, the head of the clan and the most powerful clan leader, only really cared about battle strength and wanted his sons to carry on his legacy of strength and pass it down to the next members of the clan. Deino's friends Gible and Dratini, from two other clans who lived in Draco Canyon with their own, had already managed to perfect their Dragonbreath, and had already moved on to moves like Dragon Pulse and Dragon Tail. Hydreigon had felt ashamed when Dratini's father, Dragonite, told him this, and he had immediately set his older son Zweilous the task of teaching Deino the attack.

Zweilous hadn't minded. He was very fond of Deino, and Deino was the same. They were close, and Zweilous wanted to do his best to help his little brother. Their father was away a lot on "clan business" these days, and the brothers only really had each other.

"Here, I'll show you how it's done," Zweilous said, before firing off a perfectly executed Dragonbreath. The colours were magnified in the light of the scorching afternoon sun.

"Wow!" Deino said, "That's amazing!"

They continued to practice for another few hours, then the sun started to set.

"You're making good progress," Zweilous said, "I'm proud of you!"

Deino smiled a bright smile of joy. "Really?!"

"Yeah!" Zweilous said, "Keep it up, and your Dragonbreath will be better than mine in no time!"

"You really think so?"

"I _know_ so," The twin-headed dragon replied softly.

* * *

They started making their way up the rocky crags of their canyon home. Zweilous told Deino about the missions he had previously went on with his friends, Dragonair and Gabite. They had helped Pokémon in a nearby town stop a thieving Scrafty who was stealing from their local Kecleon shop.

The three dragon clans of the Draco Canyon were like a Guild in their own right. More accurately, they could be described as something of a police force for their surrounding area. People respected the dragons, and the dragons respected the people back, helping them with problems, no matter how big or small they were.

Although recently, there had been a much greater workload for them. Feral Pokémon were rising for some reason, and there were more crimes than ever, ranging from robbery to cold-blooded murder. The world was, as Zweilous' father had always said, "going to hell". Zweilous only truly learned the meaning of that term on that day.

"Hurry up, it's getting dark!" Zweilous called to Deino, who was trailing behind.

"I know, but my feet hurt!" Deino said.

"Oh, your feet hurt?" A voice mocked from the gathering darkness, "I know a solution for that: _Ripping them off_! That would please the master!"

Zweilous frantically turned, looking for the source of the voice. The owner of the voice emerged and jabbed at Zweilous with a Sucker Punch, which Zweilous narrowly avoided with his quick reflexes.

"Ooh, a quick one!" The speaker, a Toxicroak, was now in plain view. Deino shrieked.

"Who are you?" Deino stuttered.

"Deino, don't worry," Zweilous said, "I'll protect you!"

"Protect him?" The Toxicroak's companion, a Sawk, gawked at Zweilous, "Just because you're a high and mighty Dragon type, doesn't mean you can protect that little shrimp! You're not even a Hydreigon yet!"

"Shut up!" Zweilous said, "I don't have to be fully evolved to kick you back to wherever you came from! Who even are you guys, anyway?"

"Isn't it clear?" Toxicroak said, "We're servants of our Lord!"

"Lord?" Deino wondered.

"Who is this 'Lord'?" Zweilous snapped.

"You're one of Hydreigon's clan and you don't even know who Darkrai is?" Sawk laughed.

It then became clear why there had been such an increase in crime lately. It was something to do with a Pokémon called Darkrai. Zweilous readied himself for battle, wishing he had Gabite and Dragonair for backup.

Deino edged closer to him. "Zweilous, I don't like this…"

"It's okay, brother! Nothing will happen to you! I won't let these jokers lay a finger on you!"

Zweilous used Dragon Rage on Toxicroak, sending a twister of rage-powered energy flying towards him. The attack sent him flying out of control onto some jagged rocks. He howled in pain, then got up, countering with Mach Punch. The super-speedy punch dealt heavy damage to Dark-type Zweilous. He lay on the ground, struggling to get himself back up.

Sawk grabbed Deino from behind and picked him up.

"I've got the little one! This is Hydreigon's heir! Imagine if we trained him and evolved him to a Hydreigon of our own!"

"He doesn't belong to anyone!" Zweilous protested. Toxicroak responded by landing a swift Low Kick to Zweilous' back. He yelled but the force of two super effective moves from a Pokémon much stronger than him made his vision go blurry and his consciousness fade…

* * *

Zweilous then woke up to fire. He saw the brackens atop the mountain ablaze. The orange glow almost blinded Zweilous' readjusting eyes.

 _Gah! What happened? I can't remember now…_

He tried to remember why he was lying here in the crags. How long had he been out for?

It all came back to him in a rush. The sudden attack by that incredibly powerful Toxicroak and his friend. They had kidnapped Deino! They also mentioned someone called "Darkrai". Who was that? Were the clans in danger? Zweilous picked himself and hurriedly headed upwards towards the place that was on fire.

* * *

The scene that awaited Zweilous atop the canyon was a harrowing one. Many members of the three dragon clans lay dead already at the feet of their attackers, a group of mixed types. A Charmeleon was the source of the flames, and helping him were a group of Houndour. Pawniard hacked at the remains, chopping them into indistinguishable figures so as not to leave a mess at the scene of the crime. At the head of all this was a black, ghostly figure with a red face fighting against Zweilous' father. Dark Pulses flew and Zweilous, dumbfounded at the scene playing out in front of him, was ambushed by a huge Stoutland.

"Surrender to us and you will suffer less!" Stoutland shouted.

"Not likely!" Zweilous replied, firing a Dragonbreath just as he had been teaching Deino earlier that same day.

The Stoutland recoiled, then when he gathered his senses Zweilous was already making his way through the crowd of Pokémon tearing each other apart. Zweilous wasn't one for conflict, and only fought when he had to, and this was one of those times.

As he moved through the crowd looking for Deino, he helped his fellow dragons fend against the mysterious attackers.

He caught sight of Dragonair, and rushed over to her.

"Dragonair! Have you seen my brother?" He pleaded.

Dragonair looked at him with tearful eyes, and shook her head.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a Rhyhorn tackled her serpentine figure down. She screamed out, "Zweilous, help!"

 _Man, these enemies are strong… I really like Dragonair… I have to help! But_ can _I?_

For the first time since this had all started, he suddenly felt terrified about how real this was.

He tried to knock the Rhyhorn down with a Double-Edge, but before he could make contact a Kadabra teleported in front of the Rhyhorn and stopped Zweilous. The Rhyhorn pierced Dragonair's underbelly, and dark red blood trickled down. The Kadabra vanished with a twisted smile, and Zweilous' eyes widened with a mixture of grief, fear and pure rage when he looked at the Rhyhorn.

"You… Monsters!" Zweilous spat, as the Rhyhorn turned back to him with a wicked grin of his own.

"Was this your girlfriend?" The Rhyhorn mocked.

"SHUT UP!" Zweilous screamed, unleashing an Outrage. The Rhyhorn was launched off the top of the canyon and hopefully was pierced by some jagged rocks the same way his horn had brutally ran through Dragonair.

Zweilous was filled with heartbreak and anger. Why had this happened?

* * *

Things got worse as time passed. All the dragons of the canyon fought as hard as they could, but so many were now dead, almost all of them. Zweilous had found the corpse of he and Dragonair's other teammate Gabite. This couldn't be happening. The three of them had been best friends since they were children, and now two of them had been killed in one night, and the way things were going, Zweilous might have ended up dead too. The flames continued to blaze. Then Zweilous saw the worst sight of all.

There was Deino, lying forgotten in the middle of the battlefield, presumably unconscious. Zweilous' heart threatened to burst with fear and panic as he made his way through the bodies to get to his little brother.

"Deino! Deino, please be okay…"

Deino didn't answer him.

"AAAAAAARGHHHHHH!" Zweilous said, "Deino, please, you have to wake up! Please be alive!" He begged to the silent, limp body of his brother.

"Oh, he's awake," The Toxicroak from earlier said as he approached, "He killed my partner, too. This little brat may be the heir of Hydreigon, but so are _you,_ and you're far more powerful than that little shrimp. I say I kill him and bring you to Lord Darkrai!"

"YOU WON'T TAKE EITHER OF US!"

All of a sudden, Deino was up. He roared a battle cry that Zweilous normally would have made fun of, and then fired a Dragonbreath.

It was perfect! The Toxicroak fell backwards into the flames, and Deino looked back at Zweilous with a huge smile on his face.

"Look, bro! I did it! I really did it! I used Dragonbreath!"

Then Deino's smile was replaced with a face of agony and pure sadness as a beam of black energy struck him. He fell once more, and blood poured out, telling Zweilous that this time, his little brother was well and truly dead.

Zweilous screamed out and then immediately turned and looked for the attacker, knowing that stopping to grieve would only get him killed as well, and found him immediately. This was the black ghost Pokémon that had been fighting his father. But then where was Hydreigon? Zweilous fought back fear that his father, too, was dead, then fixed the wraith with a look of pure hatred.

 _Deino… My little brother… This BASTARD killed him?! That's_ too _cruel!_

"Well met, son of Hydreigon," The ghost smiled.

"Who the hell are you? You just killed my little brother!"

"Yes, that may be so, but over the course of this night, you and your people killed a great many of my followers. An eye for an eye, wouldn't you say?"

"You monsters started this! You had no right to come here! Who are you and what's your motive?"

"My name is Darkrai," He replied, "As you can see, we are the only two people left on this battlefield. A few Pokémon fled this place, but your father was not one of them. Do you know what that means?"

"You killed _him_ too!" Zweilous wished this was a nightmare, and that he would wake up safe and sound, "I saw you two fighting earlier!"

"Yes, that's true, I killed Hydreigon. All four hundred of the followers I brought to raze this place were killed by only the mere eighty of you dragons in this canyon. I am impressed. They were all expendable, of course, so I have no qualms. What I have come for… Is you."

Zweilous' stomach churned, and he felt like he was going to be sick. Had this battle all been for him? Had the deaths of his family and friends been all because of him?

"What do you want from me?"

"I want to recruit you. I was going to recruit other Pokémon here, namely your peers and teammates, but none of them are as strong as you or that little brother of yours. But I had to kill the brat, as he has no promise."

"Don't you dare talk that way about my brother!" Zweilous roared, "He was _full_ of promise, until you killed him! I'll never join you!"

Darkrai smiled, "Ah, but I think you will. If you do not, you will be among one of the many tens of thousands of Pokémon to face my judgement. I have big plans for this world, and wish to make it a perfect world of my own design. You could be at my right hand when I recreate this world. Isn't that better than rotting here in the Canyon, with no legacy to leave behind? Haven't you always been an ambitious young Pokémon? You're intelligent and powerful too. I could make you into a fine commander of my underlings."

Zweilous looked into Darkrai's eyes, and tears began to well up in his own. He didn't really have a choice, did he? This place was his life. These people were his friends… Now they were gone. How could he work for his family and friends' killers? Then again, if he got close enough to Darkrai, he could later kill him and exact revenge. Was he brave enough for that, though? So many questions whirled through his mind.

 _You monster…_ He thought, _I want revenge; Revenge for Dragonair, and Gabite, and Deino, and my father… All of my people! You deserve to burn for what you did tonight. I won't stop until I reach this goal! I have to take the offer. I have to live on, and live to see the day that this bastard gets what's coming to him… I have to do this… For my people._

"Take as much time as you need to consider," Darkrai said, as the flames that had ravaged the Draco Canyon began to die out.

"I don't need time," Zweilous said, deciding to take the chance, "I'm joining you. Let's go."

"What?" Darkrai appeared surprised, "Just like that?"

"Yes," Zweilous smiled, "I swear fealty to you, Lord Darkrai."

Darkrai gave his own cruel smile, "I knew you would come around, Zweilous. I can be very persuasive. Now, let us leave this place behind, and begin your new life!"

 _Father… Was that the right choice?_ Zweilous asked. He thought of the bloodshed that night, and how his life had just gone from peaceful and mundane to blood-soaked in a few ours.

"Yes… My new life."

 _Mark my words, "My Lord", you will pay for what you did tonight. I will stay by your side and make sure of that…_

* * *

"And then we left Draco Canyon." Zweilous said, "After that, he attacked the Creator. There was a massive battle between his armies and the Vassals. I stayed out of it as best as I could… Then, a while passed, and you guys came along… I don't know why I did it, but I defected to help you. I'm surprised, I made it out of there alive… Now I just want to do my best to make sure he is destroyed and the Creator and your friend saved. That Pokémon killed my family… I need to see him fall."

"I assure you, he _will_ fall," Luxray said, "We'll make sure of it, together. Welcome to the _real_ winning side, Zweilous. Do you think you made the right choice, defecting from his forces and joining with us?"

"I think it's the best thing I've ever done."

 _Thanks to you guys, this coward, this lonely outcast with no family and a destroyed homeland, can have a chance to get revenge…_

Passion burned in Zweilous' eyes as he replayed in his mind the events he had just told Luxray.

 _Darkrai… Your days are numbered._

* * *

 **A/N: I decided to close the Poll early, and Zweilous won with 60% of votes, so this was the story of how he ended up joining Darkrai after the destruction of his home and the murder of his family and friends. I decided to do this Side Story before I start the final arc of Part 1, which will begin with Chapter 20. Leave a review saying what you thought of Zweilous' story, and at some stage I will make a new Poll for the third side story. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!**


	24. Chapter 20: The New Mission

_Chapter 20_

"WELCOME BACK! OH, HI ALAKAZAM!"

Exploud grinned when he saw them entering the Guild.

"The Guildmaster _knows_ this weirdo?" Chespin whispered to Froakie.

"Seems that way," Froakie replied.

Alakazam explained to Exploud that he wanted to "return" to duty. Had Alakazam once been an Explorer before all this?

"In that case, I'll welcome you and Slowbro into this Guild with open arms as another set of new recruits!"

" _Another_?" Fennekin asked.

"You'll soon see what I mean, Fennekin. It might come as a shock to you all, but you need to find out sooner or later…"

* * *

After retrieving Fennekin's Explorer Badge from the Guildmaster's office, they split from Slowbro and Alakazam, and headed down into the sick bay. What awaited them there was a lineup of tired, wounded heroes.

"Luxray! You're safe!" Chespin leaped over and hugged Luxray.

"Woah, Chespin, calm down…"

"I'm so happy to see you, Luxray!" Fennekin said, "But wait! Where's Lucario?!"

They all went silent. Chespin looked around the room. He saw three powerful-looking strangers, but not Lucario.

"You mean… Lucario… He's…"

"He wasn't killed," Exploud said, "Darkrai seems to have used the same attack he used on Arceus the Creator… Lucario was placed in the Nightmare."

"WHAT?" Chespin and Fennekin both had looks of worry and horror on their faces. Froakie felt sick, hearing that a brave Pokémon had gone to fight for their safety, and was now being subjected to whatever darkness awaited in the Nightmare Realm.

"Condolences, little ones," Haxorus spoke, "I know how it feels losing someone close to you."

"Excuse me, but… Who are you?" Chespin asked. Fennekin heaved an inward sigh of relief. At least he wasn't going crazy at these newcomers like he had with Shaymin and Alakazam.

"I am Haxorus," the green biped dragon with axe jaws said, "I am a Vassal of the Creator, along with my friend Gallade. Zweilous over there used to be on Darkrai's side, unwillingly, then fought back against him alongside us. If he hadn't, more of us would have fallen into the Nightmare that day."

Chespin's brain swirled. So much information to take in! Lucario was gone, and the pain of hearing that was making him numb… Two of these Pokémon were Vassals of the Creator? And the other a former servant of Darkrai?

Froakie had made his way over to speak to Zweilous.

"Hi there," he said, "I'm Froakie. You may get some accusations from my friend Chespin over there about Darkrai, but just ignore him if he does try and start anything. He's strong willed, but he means well."

Zweilous nodded, "I'll keep that in mind. You… You're not from around here, are you?"

"Well… Not really. What gave me away?"

"The only place I learned about that Froakie, Frogadier and Greninja lived in was destroyed long ago."

"That's… Correct."

"I had no idea some of you survived!"

"I'm kind of the only one. Well, the only one that I know of, at least."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought that up… Anyway, for what it's worth, I know how you feel. My home was destroyed, too, and my family and friends were also killed."

Froakie's eyes widened. _He's just like me…_

"Anyway, let's help to defeat Darkrai forever… For our families' sake."

Froakie nodded politely, "That sounds like a plan."

 _We're exactly the same, except I doubt he's killed as many as I have…_

Meanwhile, Chespin was trying to hide his pain and sorrow about Lucario by chatting excitedly to Exploud.

"They're so cool! With these guys on our side, we could even get Lucario back!"

"One step at a time, Chespin," The Guildmaster said, "Although, I do have your team's next mission… It's an urgent one."

Chespin's eyes grew wider, "A new mission, already?"

Exploud nodded grimly. "I know you three are only rookies, and you just got back from facing a Mega Pokémon, but… You're the only team I have that are skilled enough for it. I would send these guys," He pointed around the room, "But they're all going to be out of action for a while longer. You're the Guild's last hope…"

"We'll do it." Chespin agreed instantly, "Just give us until tomorrow before we set off."

"Very well," Exploud said, "I can't yell in here because of Nurse Chansey's stupid rules, so gather your team, grab a bite to eat and meet me in my office in an hour. I'll give you the rundown of the mission."

Chespin nodded as Exploud left the sick bay, and went over to Fennekin and Froakie to talk to them about this new, seemingly important mission.

* * *

After eating some food, the trio headed to the Guildmaster's Office.

"What do you suppose this new mission is?" Froakie asked.

"I don't know," Chespin answered, "But from the sounds of things, it's gonna be the craziest mission our team has had to date!"

"We've seen a lot of action lately, yeah," Fennekin agreed, "But we're still only rookies… I hope it's not _too_ difficult…"

"Ah, it'll be all right, Fennekin!" Chespin smiled reassuringly, "It's not like we'll be going up against _Darkrai_ or anything!"

When they entered, Exploud looked up from his desk and smiled, despite everything that was going on.

"Hi," he greeted them, "Thanks for coming."

"No problem," Fennekin said, "So, what's this mission?"

"Here goes," the huge Pokémon started, "So basically, a few days ago, a Pokémon named Sigilyph flew here from a place called Lunar Island."

"Lunar Island?" Chespin said, "What's that?"

"It's the home of a Legendary Pokémon," Froakie said, "Although I can't remember which one…"

"You're right, Froakie," Exploud said proudly, "It's the home of the Lunar Pokémon, Cresselia. She's a peaceful Pokémon, but there's one problem."

"What's the problem?" Chespin asked.

"I'M GETTING TO IT!" Exploud couldn't control himself, and yelled at Chespin.

Downstairs a yell of, "Guildmaster, don't raise your voice!" could be heard, presumably from Chansey.

"Okay, so, this might take a while to get your heads around, but Cresselia is the Pokémon Darkrai was born of."

"Like… His mother?" Fennekin questioned.

"No… He's her _dark half_. The dark half she didn't even know she had…"

"That's crazy," Chespin said, "How did he become his own Pokémon then?"

"No one knows," Exploud grimaced, "He has most likely been around for quite a few years, but was laying low, gathering power… And now he's striking. First at the Hall of Light, now…"

Fennekin let out a terrified squeak, "Lunar Island."

The other two just remained silent. Chespin couldn't believe what Exploud was suggesting.

"Yes… But before you scream and beg me not to send you," Exploud said, "It's not as bad as you think. He's just sending his _henchmen_ , from what we have heard."

"Oh," Chespin said, "Well, that's not too bad. Oh, _wait_ , yes it is!" He was growing angry, "Exploud, are you that willing to throw our lives away?!"

"Listen, Chespin," Exploud said, "You three have proved yourselves so much lately. Even Froakie, as a newcomer, you're one of the best rookies I've seen."

Froakie had remained silent this whole time, contemplating. When he heard his name he looked up and smiled and nodded to Exploud. Chespin looked at his friend, wondering what was on his mind.

"But, Guildmaster," Fennekin said, "We're only three unevolved Pokémon! How are we going to stand a chance against trained henchmen of the most powerful enemy this world has fought in years?"

"I believe in you all," He replied, "If you don't rise to the occasion once more, Cresselia's island will be captured and Darkrai will go there, kill her and become even stronger than he was previously. If that happens, we have _no_ hope!"

Chespin considered this. It was terrifying, but in a way, this was what he had always been wanting, ever since the murder of the Kecleon. He wanted to make a change in the world, and he wanted to fight the spread of darkness. He realised he was shaking, with a mixture of fear and anticipation.

"So, we're the only hope, eh?" Froakie said, "When are Darkrai's forces converging on Lunar Island?"

"Soon," Exploud replied, "Tomorrow, most likely."

"We'll head out tomorrow," Chespin said, "Well, I will. Fennekin, Froakie, it's up to you if you want to come with me. I _have_ to do this. I have to go there and fight. This is our chance to make a change."

Froakie considered things. He could help out on Lunar Island, and fight the forces of Darkrai. He was powerful, and could keep an eye on Chespin to make sure he came back alive.

 _If I come back after this mission… I'm settling things with Tyranitar. I'll leave Treasure Town, and face him alone. I can't have him coming here looking for me. I don't know what I'd do if my friends were hurt by him and his blasted Syndicate…_

"I'm coming with you," Froakie decided, "You can't face this alone. I need to repay you for all you've done for me thus far. All of you," He looked at Fennekin and Exploud too.

"You can count me in as well," Fennekin said, "I may not be as strong as either of you, but I'll try my hardest."

Chespin smiled broadly at her, "I couldn't go without you, Fennekin," He then fixed Froakie with a determined look, "You too, Froakie. The fact that you'd put your life on the line for this even though you only teamed up with us recently means a lot to me!"

"So, it's settled, then," Exploud said, "You three are to meet a Pokémon named Lapras at the beach tomorrow morning at eight. Lunar Island isn't too far from here, so she'll transport you there. Make your preparations today, then get some rest," He grimaced determinedly at them, "You've got a long battle ahead of you, but I have every confidence in you all."

* * *

That evening after dinner, Chespin paid a visit to the sick bay once more. Zweilous, Gallade and Haxorus were all sleeping, and Luxray was sitting up, alone.

"Hi, Luxray," Chespin said, "Sorry if I'm bothering you."

"Hey, Chespin," The human-turned-Pokémon looked up and smiled at him, "No, you're not bothering me in the slightest. How can I help you?"

"It's just that… Me and my team got this mission today…"

He told Luxray about the mission to Lunar Island.

"That's a bit much, even for you guys," Luxray said, "But I have every faith that you'll come back alive!"

"Thanks, but… I'm worried. I feel weak… Froakie is so powerful, and Fennekin's really smart… I pale in comparison."

Luxray smiled warmly. "Ah, Chespin. Whenever I first met you, you were only a young loudmouth who dreamed of being an Explorer. Now, you and your friends can face Mega Pokémon."

"That was almost entirely Froakie," Chespin objected.

"But still, Froakie only got to be such a good Explorer because you met him and took him to the Guild," Luxray replied, "Your spirit and determination rubbed off on him, and that's why he got so strong!"

Chespin smiled sadly. "Spirit and determination doesn't take down an army…"

"But even so, you'll have your friends beside you. I would go with you too if I could, but I'm aching so badly… Physically and emotionally."

Chespin remembered Lucario. "Yeah, I'm the same…" He then sparked back up, "But I'm going to fight hard out there on Lunar Island, for Lucario!"

Luxray smiled encouragingly, "Yeah! We'll see him again someday, no doubt. He's probably thinking of us in the Nightmare Realm right now. He'll be on that battlefield with you tomorrow, Chespin, willing you to keep going and protect Lady Cresselia!"

Chespin's heart swelled with pride. Luxray was right… He could get through that battle tomorrow. This was his chance to contribute to the world's counterattack against Darkrai.

He thanked Luxray for his help, then set off out of the sick bay.

 _Good luck out there tomorrow, Chespin…_ Luxray thought, _I'll see you when you get back…_

* * *

Meanwhile, Fennekin and Froakie were in the lounge area of the Guild.

"I'm scared," Fennekin blurted out, then cursed herself for it.

"Me, too." Froakie admitted.

"Really?!" Fennekin couldn't believe it, "But you're so strong!"

"Listen, Fennekin," Froakie said, "Even the bravest Pokémon get scared. My father taught me that. The day our home was attacked… He was scared. The important thing is, he still fought back. Even though we're scared, we have to fight. What we're about to do is for the good of the world." Then he paused, "I'm sorry, that sounded stupid."

Fennekin felt more at ease, "No, it wasn't stupid. I didn't know about your father, though… I'm sorry."

Froakie shrugged. "Forget it. It's in the past."

Then he walked off, not wanting her, or anyone, to know the pain in his heart.

"I'm going to bed," He said, "Goodnight!"

"What?" She said, "It's only six thirty!"

* * *

He cried. For the first time in a while, he cried. Why had he mentioned his father to her? It was painful, remembering the Pokémon who had taught him so much. He was so stupid, reminding himself of memories he didn't like being reminded of. First to Zweilous, now to Fennekin…

 _I don't deserve their sympathies…_ He thought, choking back sobs. _I don't deserve to be here. They don't know what I am…_

As he often did when he was alone, he went back to thinking about his home, and Tyranitar's attack on it. He had been the lone survivor… Why?

 _I know why,_ he reminded himself, _It was because of_ that.

Why did he do this to himself? All the time, he would ponder these dark subjects within himself. He was alone in the world, because of _that_. That _thing_ lying dormant inside of him, that would one day awake in him.

Granbull had known about it. He had heard stories of a cold-hearted young killer who was Tyranitar's young prodigy, his best assassin.

 _"_ _I am your new father."_ Those had been Tyranitar's words when he claimed him.

 _"_ _You are special, my son. You have a great power within you. You shall grow to be even greater than me."_

Then he thought of the mission, that purple Pokémon he had been sent to Treasure Town to kill. How long would Tyranitar wait? Hopefully a little bit longer…

Froakie staved off these horrible thoughts, these dark memories, and decided to sleep, even though it was still only early. He was still tired from the fight against Aggron, and needed to be at his best for tomorrow.

* * *

The next morning, the three of them woke up and met in the main hall of the Guild.

"Morning!" Chespin said, "Did everyone sleep okay?"

"Fine," Froakie lied. The truth was, dreams of his family tormented him all night, just as they did most nights.

"I slept fine, too."

Fennekin had decided not to tell Chespin about what Froakie had said last night before retreating to bed. Froakie would probably tell Chespin some other time, when he was more comfortable about it.

"That's good," Chespin smiled, "Now, let's go, or we'll be late for meeting Lapras!"

They ran down to the beach, where the Krabby were also just starting to wake up. Chespin remembered going down there with Fennekin to look at their Bubbles shining in the sunset not so long ago. Now, they were going off to battle. Things had changed so much ever since the death of Kecleon and the arrival of Froakie. For the better, it seemed. Chespin reflected on the past few days and weeks as Lapras' form could be seen approaching.

 _There've been some pretty hard times… But good times as well. But everything could change after this. Once we get to Lunar Island, we will fight in a battle that will decide the fate of the world. If we lose… Darkrai will absorb Cresselia's power and become a full being. At least, that's what the Guildmaster told me before I left… This is so scary. But I know things will be okay, because I have Fennekin and Froakie with me…_

"Hey, Chespin, come on!" Fennekin's call snapped him back to reality. He had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed that the blue seafaring Pokémon with a horn on her head and a large shell for passengers to sit on had arrived.

"Hi, Lapras!" Chespin smiled at her.

"Hello, Chespin," She said with a serene, uplifting voice.

"Hey, guys, wait up!"

Before Chespin could join Fennekin and Froakie on Lapras' shell, he turned to see Slowbro and Alakazam speeding towards them.

"Hey, Slowbro, Alakazam," He greeted them happily, "Sorry, but we're just about to head off."

"Apologies to the three of you," Alakazam said, "We would have went on this mission with you, but we are needed to carry out all the normal jobs as Luxray is out of action, so we need to fill in for him."

"Yeah…" Slowbro looked sad, "Best of luck on your mission, guys. I'm sure you'll help Lady Cresselia just like you helped me! We'll celebrate when you guys get back!"

 _That's_ if _we come back…_ Chespin thought worriedly, but shrugged his fears off.

"Thanks, guys," He shook hands with Slowbro and Alakazam, "We'll do our best out there."

Fennekin and Froakie thanked them too, then Chespin climbed up onto Lapras' shell.

"Let's set off, full speed ahead!" Lapras shouted as she began swimming across the beautiful water, smaller Pokémon like Lumineon jumping in and out of the water to greet her.

In the horizon, Chespin and friends just had time to see that Guildmaster Exploud had joined their other friends, waving goodbye to them.

"GOOD LUCK!" The Guildmaster's deafening voice called out, "SEE YOU ALL SOON! I BELIEVE IN YOU!"

Chespin almost welled up with tears when he saw Luxray there too, waving a paw even though he was still struggling to stand. He must have got special permission from Exploud to go and see them off.

 _I'm going to fight hard for you, Luxray…_ Chespin thought, _I'll make sure there's still hope for you and your best friend to be reunited…_

Soon the shapes of Luxray and the others disappeared, and Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie left Treasure Town behind once more to fight their toughest battle yet on Lunar Island…

* * *

 **A/N: Here begins the last arc of Part 1. Quite a big battle looms near for our heroes, one more dangerous than any so far. I liked this chapter, even though it was just another setup chapter. At least there was some character development in there. Anyway, leave a review if you enjoyed. Thanks for reading! Also, concerning my other story, Soul of a Hero, I decided to delete it. I didn't make a full plan for it when I started writing, and I feel like I started too quickly, so I ended up not liking it. I might come back to it some day, but I only see myself doing that if I fully plan it out and end up liking the ideas.**


	25. Chapter 21: On Stormy Seas

_Chapter 21_

Cresselia looked at Musharna, her right-hand Pokémon, with a mixture of fear and happiness.

"I can feel their presences getting closer!" She exclaimed.

"Whose?" Musharna asked, "Enemies or allies from Treasure Town?"

"Both," Cresselia said, "The forces of Darkrai are closer, but I can also feel the light of three strong young heroes… In fact, it's strange."

"What's strange, Mistress?"

Cresselia shrugged. What she was thinking was crazy. She wasn't one to believe things without saying things, so she banished the thought.

"Nothing," Cresselia said, "I was just thinking of an old legend…"

* * *

From the Hall of Light, Darkrai watched his army moving, the Psychics of their group teleporting the others in groups to a small island near Lunar Island that was owned by Darkrai and his forces. There, the pirate crew led by Crawdaunt, the buccaneer who was previously knocked out by Lucario and Luxray but was now back in action, transported them to the battleground.

He smiled. "Isn't it wonderful, Gardevoir? Soon, I will be twice as powerful as I am now! No Pokémon will be able to stop me!"

"Yes, Lord Darkrai," Gardevoir agreed unenthusiastically.

Absol was there too, relishing in the glory of seeing the army heading off to bring Cresselia to their master. He laughed as he imagined the Lunar Pokémon and her cohorts screaming in pain. He just wished he could be there to join in the slaughter.

His scar still hurt. He hissed in agony, still bitter from the battle a few days ago. Now wasn't the time to think about that fool Gallade; Now was a time to think about victory, domination, destruction and murder, which were four of Absol's recently-acquired new favourite things.

As the first group of their soldiers reached land, led by the two Meowstic, Pyroar and Rhydon, Darkrai laughed cruelly.

"So it begins, my friends," He said.

* * *

Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie and Lapras had been travelling for a few hours, and Lapras happily assured them that there wasn't far to go. They would all miss travelling the sea with Lapras. The sun shone, the breeze was cool, the different places they passed seemed interesting. Lapras also told stories, including ones about the former Guildmaster, Wigglytuff, and places they had journeyed to together. Lapras also revealed that she had been the one who took Lucario and Luxray to Brine Cave all those years ago, where they had then discovered the entrance to the fabled Hidden Land.

Chespin was nervous again. However, he was also excited. He couldn't wait to beat up Darkrai's henchmen, and take revenge for Lucario.

Fennekin was afraid, too, but seeing the determination of her friends put her mind at ease. She needed to fight her hardest in order to keep up with Chespin and Froakie in terms of power.

Froakie had been contemplating for the whole journey. He thought of his father, and assured himself that he would make his entire clan proud on Lunar Island today. He would fight hard, and take no prisoners.

"Well, there's Lunar Island!" Lapras said a while later, nodding through gathering mist at a small, circular landmass.

"Really?" Chespin said, "It's getting foggy! Is that big circle of land Lunar Island?"

"Yes!" Lapras told him.

"Why is it suddenly so foggy?" Fennekin wondered.

"It must be some kind of cloaking method for Lady Cresselia!" Lapras guessed.

"Or… It's a _trap_ from the enemy!" Froakie narrowed his eyes, squinting to try and see further off, "Lapras, quick, move left!"

Lapras didn't question the intense young Pokémon's command, and moved left. She sighed with relief as she narrowly avoided a huge rock she would have rammed into had Froakie not warned her.

"Thanks, Froakie!" Lapras said, "That was close! My eyesight isn't so good, so I might need you to be my eyes!"

"No problem!" Froakie said, then he yelled, "Watch out! There's some kind of Pokémon swimming towards us!"

Two black blurs leaped out of the water and sank their fangs into Lapras' fins. She screamed with pain, then fired a pure white Ice Beam at these unknown attackers.

The enemies were too quick, and arced above Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie, leaping out of the water to launch another attack. They were fast, with powerful fins and razor-sharp fangs.

"Sharpedo!" Froakie said, recognising them at once.

"Not just _any_ Sharpedo," One of the pair said, "The Sharpedo Brothers! We're the top ambushers for the Dread Buccaneer Crawdaunt's crew! Now, it's time for you land-lubbers to walk the plank!"

The Sharpedo on the left shot out of the water once more and latched onto Lapras' neck. Blood seeped out from the marks left by the powerful Crunch attack.

"We need to hurry to land!" Lapras said, "By the looks of things, the invasion has already begun!"

"We'll help get them off!" Chespin said, using his Vine Whip to pull the first Sharpedo off of Lapras and send him ramming into the second. Both disappeared down the increasingly turbulent waves.

"Strike!" Chespin laughed.

"Good job, Chespin!" Fennekin smiled.

"Nicely done," Froakie said, "But I don't think that's the last we'll see of them!"

"We've almost reached land, anyway," Lapras said, "If they come back, I can take them!"

"Just a little more, Lapras!" Chespin encouraged, "But, wow, the weather sure has changed dramatically from what it was like when we were on our way here!"

"It's probably due to a Pokémon using Rain Dance to try and stop us from getting here!" Froakie suggested.

"So, wait, they know we're coming?" Fennekin said.

"It seems that way!" Froakie said, "Someone must have known when that Sigilyph sent word to the Guildmaster!"

Rain began to come bucketing down.

"I think you were right about Rain Dance, Froakie," Chespin admitted.

"That means I'll be weak in this weather!" Fennekin complained.

"Don't worry, Fennekin," Chespin said, "I'll make sure none of these cowards lay a paw on you!"

Fennekin flushed.

 _He really does care about me…_

"Of course, that goes for you too, Froakie!" He added, patting Froakie on the back.

"I won't need help, I feel confident," Froakie said happily, "I'll easily take on any Pokémon Darkrai can throw at us!"

"I hope you're willing to back that claim up, Froakie!" Lapras called over the sound of the gathering storm, "We've almost reached land!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Darkrai saw the three young pathetic Pokémon that had been sent from a Guild, presumably Exploud's since it was closest, to protect Lunar Island. He laughed haughtily.

"This is an _insult_ to my honour!" Darkrai said, "Do Cresselia and the Pokémon of Lunar Island think that these three fools will be enough to defend their home from my army?"

"It seems that way," Absol said, a smile playing on his lips, "It will be more joyous to see those young faces twisted with agony, and their rich blood coming pouring out like water from a fountain."

"You know, Absol, you really are a messed-up Pokémon," Darkrai said, "It's only fitting that you're one of my top servants!"

Absol laughed, "You think too much of me, Master, for I am merely just another pawn for your cause."

Gardevoir, who was using her telepathy to conjure the vision of the three Guild members heading to Lunar Island, didn't speak.

"Oh, but, look!" Darkrai exclaimed, turning his attention back to Gardevoir's vision, "The Sharpedo Brothers are coming back!"

"They are!" Absol said joyously, "It seems that more blood may be spilt _before_ they reach land!"

* * *

Lapras and the heroes hadn't noticed the Sharpedo brothers gaining on them at breakneck pace through the water, faster than the naked eye could follow.

"Gah!" Lapras yelled as she was bitten once more, this time with an Ice Fang. Her right flipper was frozen solid, slowing her movements.

"These guys don't know when to quit!" Chespin roared, the rain plummeting down on him.

"Where are they?" Fennekin shouted, "I can't see them!"

Froakie squinted around and focused, blocking out all other sound to try and locate them.

 _I've got it!_

He fired a large Water Shuriken to the left, and it made contact with one of the brothers, sending him flying out of the water and then soaring limply back down. A roar of anger could be heard from behind them, revealing the presence of the other Sharpedo. He proved harder to hit, though, as he sped around randomly, trying to make himself a difficult target.

"I can't get at the other one!" Froakie said, "Fennekin, can you try and thaw out Lapras' fin? We need to get a move on!"

"I'll try!" Fennekin replied, leaning off of Lapras' shell to the frozen fin.

"You can do it, Fennekin!" Chespin called as he used his Vine Whips like oars, rowing them towards land while Lapras' fin was frozen.

"I'm sorry if this hurts, Lapras," Fennekin said.

"Don't worry about me, Fennekin!" Lapras assured.

Then Fennekin fired off an Ember, the light glow of the flames contrasting with the growing darkness of the cloudy, stormy sea. The ice covering the bottom of Lapras' fin melted and the Water Pokémon was able to swim at full speed again.

"Is the Sharpedo still behind us?" Lapras called.

"Worse!" Chespin answered, "There's more of them!"

Surrounding the remaining Sharpedo were the continuously-emerging forms of other predatory Water-Types, such as Carvanha, Basculin and even Gyarados. The huge forms of the latter made Fennekin scream with fright as she looked back at the growing number of enemies.

"I thought we were almost safe, and then _this_ happens?" Lapras sighed.

"We'll try and fend off as many as we can!" Froakie called, "How far is left?"

"We're really close!" Lapras said, "But I can see Pokémon at the shoreline! They've prepared an ambush!"

"Damn it!" Chespin screamed, "This is bad!"

Chespin's head became filled with fear and doubts. He wished he hadn't accepted the mission. They weren't ready for this! This mission was in a whole other league, and once they reached land they would have to face _another_ bunch of enemies.

 _If I hadn't been so cocky, none of us would be in this situation…_

"Chespin, wake up!" Froakie shouted angrily, "Are you gonna help or are you gonna daydream?"

Chespin came back to his senses, "I'm gonna _help_!"

He sent a storm of Razor Leaves surging towards the enemies, but the fierce winds sent a lot of them blowing off into the opposite direction. The enemies laughed.

"Is that the best you can do?!" A Basculin laughed.

"Don't you _dare_ laugh at my friend!" Fennekin shouted from behind them, and, unexpectedly even to her, a purple beam shot from her open mouth. The Basculin was lifted into the air by the strange beam, and thrown backwards into a rock jutting out from the sea.

"What in the name of Arceus was that?" Fennekin wondered.

"Looks to me like you just used Psybeam!" Lapras said knowledgeably.

"Woah!" Fennekin exclaimed, "Really? I remember my mom could use that attack!"

"Congrats, Fennekin!" Chespin said, "Now you can help us against these Water Types!"

"That's right!" Fennekin replied, "I don't have to rely on Fire attacks any longer!"

"Come on, then!" Froakie called, "Help us out some more!"

The three of them worked together, Chespin firing Energy Balls and throwing enemies into rocks with Grass Knot and Vine Whip, Froakie firing Water Shuriken at enemies that got too close to Lapras, and Fennekin using her new found Psybeam to lift enemies into the air and toss them back.

"We're doing good!" Chespin said happily, his doubts disappearing. Maybe they could make it through this together.

"We're about to reach the shore!" Lapras said, "Get ready to fight some more!"

"Will do!" Froakie said. He was ready for whatever awaited them on that beach.

* * *

Lunar Island was bigger up close. They touched down on a beach, the enemy still not far behind. Tall trees covered the land past the beach, and Chespin couldn't see very far beyond them. The Lunar Pokémon Cresselia was somewhere on that island. There were enemies waiting for them at the beach, and others had probably headed through the trees in search of Cresselia.

A group of Pokémon awaited them on the shore, led by a huge crustacean. This was probably the Dread Buccaneer Crawdaunt, whom the Sharpedo Brothers had mentioned. There were others, too, including types other than Water.

As they dismounted Lapras, they thanked her for safely bringing them there. Then, the Dread Buccaneer spoke.

"Ahoy there, me hearties. I suspect you three be the _help_ the honoured Lady Cresselia sent for?"

Chespin shot him a glare, "What's it to you?"

"Ah, the brat has attitude!" Crawdaunt mocked, and the rest of his posse laughed.

"Lapras!" Fennekin said, "Watch out, they're coming!"

Behind them, their pursuers were barrelling towards the shore.

"Don't worry, Fennekin!" Lapras smiled, "Watch this!"

She sped towards them, and stirred up a huge wave. She rode the wave towards them, and it was so huge that the enemy couldn't avoid it. The Surf attack ploughed into them head-on, sending a majority of them washed away by the force of the great wave.

Chespin watched in awe.

"Wow, Lapras!" He shouted, "That was amazing!"

"Pardon me," A Bisharp among Crawdaunt's group said, "Shouldn't you be more focused on the enemies in front of you than that stupid fish?"

"Ah, Bisharp, me hearty, you make a fair point!" Crawdaunt said, "Perhaps you ought to listen, brats!"

"Whatever, I don't really care about you guys," Chespin said, "You're just cannon fodder, really."

Froakie laughed at this comment. "Agreed."

"We'll wipe the floor with these goons in seconds, then go protect Lady Cresselia!" Fennekin said.

"Such insolence!" Crawdaunt snapped his pincers, "Let's show them that the Dread Buccaneer and his crew aren't that easily wiped out, boys!"

"Guys," Lapras called from the water.

"Yeah?" Chespin looked back at her.

"I've dealt with most of those Pokémon pursuing us with my Surf, but I'm injured. I'm not a fighter, so that took a lot out of me. I need to go back to Treasure Town and recover, so this is as far as I go. I'll trust the rest with you!"

"Thanks so much for everything, Lapras!" Chespin called.

"We'll see you again soon!" Fennekin reassured.

"Thanks for getting us here safe, we'll be back home to celebrate our victory soon!" Froakie added.

Lapras' Explorer Badge shone. Chespin didn't even know she was an actual Explorer, he thought she just worked with the Guild.

"Goodbye!" Lapras shouted, "Good luck! We're all depending on you!"

As Lapras vanished, Crawdaunt and his cronies laughed.

"What a touching farewell," He mocked, "Too bad you won't even make it past us!"

The gang of about twenty-five Pokémon advanced on them. Chespin looked to his friends. Their battle on Lunar Island had already begun, even though they had only just set foot there.

"Get ready, guys!" Fennekin said.

"We were born ready!" Froakie yelled, and then the three of them ran into battle…

* * *

 **A/N: Hi, again! I got this one finished sooner than I thought, so I guess I'll put it up tonight. This chapter deals with the journey and arrival of our heroes on Lunar Island, and gets the action going before they even arrived. I didn't have the action sequence where the heroes are fighting on the sea in my original plan, but I decided to implement it because it added a sense of danger to the mission before the heroes even reached their destination. As of this chapter, the story has reached 50k words. I'm really happy about this, as this is probably the longest I've ever managed to stick with a story for. The next chapter will probably be up on Tuesday (Possibly later in the week), and I only did two chapters one after another over two days as it was the weekend, I didn't have much homework and it was very rainy so I had loads of time to write. Thanks for all the recent reviews and favourites, and be sure to do both of these things if you like the story. Anyway, thanks for reading, and see you all in the next one!**


	26. Chapter 22: Battle on Lunar Island (1)

_Chapter 22_

"Look at these fools!" Absol laughed savagely as he, Gardevoir and Darkrai viewed the events when Chespin and friends reached the shore.

"They've got guts," Darkrai said, "But our army will make short work of them. There are, after all, only three of them."

"True, Master," Absol said, "Oh, there's nothing I wouldn't give to be a part of all that beautiful slaughter!"

"You can go there if you want, Absol," Darkrai smiled, "I won't stop you. You'd be a good help out there, if the leaders of the army fail."

"Oh, I simply couldn't. They're capable, Master," Absol said, "The Meowstic especially. I've never seen psychic powers like theirs. Sorry, Gardevoir, I mean no offence."

Absol couldn't tell if Gallade's sister had taken offence to his words or not, as she just remained silent as usual.

"Although it is unlikely," Darkrai murmured, "I may _have_ to send you to Lunar Island, if Rhydon and the others fail to capture Cresselia. Perhaps I will even join you. If these heroes have potential, it would be good to meet them… And bring them down."

"And you say I'm cruel?" Absol said jokingly, "They're only kids! They're probably just expendable rookies who Exploud sent just to get rid of!"

"That may be so," his master replied, "But, before we make judgements, let's watch what happens…"

* * *

"Attack!" Crawdaunt yelled, and his group began their attack on the three young heroes who had just arrived on the beach.

"We can take 'em, guys!" Chespin shouted, launching Razor Leaves, knocking the airborne Wingull and Skarmory out of the sky, to try and eliminate those whom he was weak against first. Froakie then knocked them down with Water Shuriken.

"Good teamwork, guys!" Fennekin encouraged before firing Embers at a trio of Pawniard with sharp looking blades protruding from their bodies.

"You all aren't half bad!" Crawdaunt said, advancing on Chespin, pincers bared, "I think I'll kill the plucky, loud brat first!"

Before Chespin could get out of the way, he was battered by a Crabhammer attack from the Dread Buccaneer.

"That hurt!" Chespin yelled, "You'll regret attacking one of the future elite members of Exploud's Guild!"

He sized up Crawdaunt. The pirate was intimidating with those two large pincers of his, but Chespin thought he could beat him one-on-one. He looked around at Froakie gracefully manoeuvring around the beach, taking down Pokémon with nimble movements that were so fast they couldn't block.

Fennekin, meanwhile, was making good use of her new Psybeam attack, lifting enemies with telekinesis and hurling them off into the water.

Chespin made his move, Vine Whips extending from his body like third and fourth arms, catching Crawdaunt by the pincers before he could try and retaliate.

"Gotcha!" He smiled.

"Oh, you think you've got me?" Crawdaunt smiled, "Look behind you, matey!"

Sure enough, behind Chespin was a Charmeleon, its maw open wide and its sharp looking fangs bared.

The lizard with the flame on his tail released a jet of flame at Chespin, causing a searing pain all across his body. His concentration broke, and the Vine Whips snapped, freeing Crawdaunt. The huge crustacean then whacked Chespin upside the head with another Crabhammer.

"Good work, me hearty!" Crawdaunt praised his subordinate.

"It was nothing, cap'n!" The Charmeleon said modestly before being sent flying by a Water Shuriken from Froakie.

Froakie ran to Chespin.

"You okay?"

Chespin gasped for breaths.

"Yeah… I'm fine…" He said raggedly, "He just took me by surprise…"

"Okay," Froakie said, "Well, now he's gonna pay for that!"

Crawdaunt laughed again. "Oh, am I?"

"Of course," Froakie said, " _Nobody_ hurts my precious friends!"

Anger bubbled within him and rose to the surface when he sped towards Crawdaunt, facing down the Pokémon much larger than he or Chespin.

"Hey, Froakie, I appreciate the help, but this is my fight!" Chespin protested. Froakie just smiled back at him and kept going. Crawdaunt lashed out with his pincers, but Froakie was too fast.

Chespin couldn't believe what he was seeing. There were four, five… No, six of Froakie! His friend was using Double Team to make it look like there were six of him. Crawdaunt blindly slammed his pincers down indiscriminately, hitting thin air each time. Then, Froakie landed a Water Shuriken from behind, disorientating Crawdaunt.

"He's all yours!" Froakie called to Chespin, and sped off again to fight some more of the Dread Buccaneer's crew.

Chespin acted fast, making his move before Crawdaunt could gather his senses again.

He remembered Lucario practising a Fighting-type attack with him, saying that when he evolved he would become a powerful hand-to-hand brawler and needed to start practising his Fighting attacks early if he wanted to get stronger. The move he was going to try and use was one he hadn't yet perfected, so trying to use it was risky.

Chespin moved towards the dizzy crustacean at a speed not quite as fast as Froakie could go, but fast enough. He then punched Crawdaunt very hard in the torso, knocking him back and sending him sprawling on the sand. After that, Chespin felt a surge of power inside of him.

 _I did it! I used Power-Up Punch!_ He thought happily, resisting the urge to jump up and down with excitement. He hoped Lucario was watching from the Nightmare Realm, and that he was proud.

 _That was for you, Lucario…_

* * *

Fennekin and Froakie were doing their best to work their way through the rest of Crawdaunt's crew as the captain fought against Chespin. Froakie tirelessly ran across the beach, launching Water Shuriken and getting up close to enemies and whaling on them with punches and kicks.

"Froakie! Did you see that attack Chespin used a moment ago?" She called.

"Yeah!" He answered after kicking down a Graveller, "That was Power-Up Punch! I can do it too, but that was _way_ better than one of mine!"

They had been close by when Chespin used the Power-Up Punch on Crawdaunt. Inside, Fennekin felt an unbelievable surge of pride. Her best friend was growing up alongside her. Froakie had just smiled to himself, and continued making short work of Darkrai's grunts.

"You little pipsqueaks aren't half bad!" A Seismitoad said as he used Mud Slap on Fennekin. She yelled with pain at the super effective attack, then picked herself up and focused her mind on trying to hurt this foolish servant of the enemy. He was lifted in the air, and shouted out curses as it happened. He tried to fight it, but Fennekin's newfound psychic abilities stopped him from breaking free and falling back down to the ground. She threw him, and he flew far away. Fennekin smiled as she heard branches breaking. She could get used to these new Psychic moves.

"Nice one, Fennekin, but you need to be more vigilant!" Froakie called, stopping a Raichu from launching an Electro Ball at her by cancelling it out with a large Water Shuriken which forced its way through the electricity and whacked into the large orange mouse-like creature.

"Thanks for the save, Froakie!" She looked around her, "That seems to be all of the crew wiped out! Will we go help Chespin fight the leader now?"

"No," Froakie said, "I think he can handle it on his own. Besides, we're on a mission to find and protect Cresselia, so we have to move fast. We split up, and move through that forest!"

"Okay, got it!" She called. Froakie had already set off quickly.

Fennekin took one last look at Chespin and Crawdaunt, the last two conscious Pokémon on the beach apart from her, struggling against one another. It looked fairly even, but Crawdaunt seemed to be getting worn out as his movements got sluggish.

 _Good luck, Chespin…_ She thought as she turned towards the forest and moved onwards, in search of Cresselia.

* * *

Chespin was fighting hard against the Dread Buccaneer.

"You know, I fought a Fighting-type recently," Crawdaunt said, "He had the type advantage over me, but my friends and I still throttled him!" He then laughed hysterically.

"What do I care?!"

"I reckoned you would care, laddie," Crawdaunt gave a wicked smile, "Considering the fool was one of your own! You're from Exploud's Guild, are you not?"

Anger blazed inside of Chespin as he realised that Crawdaunt was talking about Lucario.

"That's my friend you're talking about!" He roared passionately, which only caused Crawdaunt to laugh harder.

"Ah, what a fool he was, thinking that he could defeat our Master!" The Dread Buccaneer was clearly trying to rile up Chespin so that he would make mistakes and lose his concentration on the fight. Chespin promised himself not to let that happen.

 _Fennekin and Froakie have already headed off into the forest, so it's just me and him left. I need to finish this… Fast!_

"He fought bravely!" Chespin cried, "And at least he fought for the right side, unlike you!"

For the first time, Crawdaunt lost his cool.

"Don't you ever say I walk the wrong path, you filthy land-lubber! That's the greatest insult you could ever say to a pirate! If I weren't such an amiable Pokémon, I would have your head right now for that! Fortunately for you, I'm just going to savour in this murder… Relish it, just like a real warrior of the sea would!"

Chespin kicked his limbs, sweeping them and causing him to lose balance. He roared with rage: He hadn't been expecting the Low Sweep, another skill Lucario had taught him during their training. He tried to keep himself from falling, but failed. Embarrassment and shock showed on his eyes. He had lost his irritatingly calm demeanour.

"You… Filthy little land-lubber!" He said, trying to get up. However, pain coursed through his legs and back after the fall.

"That's for talking bad about Lucario," Chespin said, then tied Crawdaunt up in a Grass Knot. The pirate tried snapping away at it with his pincers but he was tied up too tightly.

"Goodbye, Dread Buccaneer," Chespin said, "I'd love to stay and fight, but me and my friends have a battle to win, so I can't waste my time with small fry like you!"

He threw the much heavier Pokémon out to sea, creating a huge crash of water. He had thrown Crawdaunt quite far out, but the spray still reached the edge of the beach where Chespin was, so he got soaked. The water was rejuvenating for the young Grass-type, who had just won his first real battle on his own.

 _I can't believe I did it, without much help from Froakie or Fennekin!_ He was more shocked than relieved. Still, Crawdaunt had only been the first foe he'd have to face; There would be others, and they'd probably be stronger than the Dread Buccaneer.

Chespin was elated as he stepped over the unconscious bodies around him, and prepared to head off to look for Cresselia just as his friends had.

He thought of the sadness and insecurity he had felt when he had worried about being the weak link of the team, which was now starting to fade. He could take on Darkrai's grunts just as well as Fennekin or Froakie!

As he swiftly made his way through the dense forest with thick-trunked, vine-entangled trees, he couldn't help but smile as he thought of all he had overcome recently and how he had grown.

From a darker patch of the forest close to where Chespin was, a pair of eyes tried to keep up with him.

 _He's probably thinking he's so great after beating that fool Crawdaunt…_ The large Pokémon thought to himself, trying to keep up, all the while concealing his large footfalls and getting his single, drill-like horn stuck in hanging vines from time to time, cursing lightly when this happened.

 _I'll show you who the great one is…_

* * *

Froakie dashed through the forest, sometimes scaling trees to get a clearer view of the whole island and seeing if he could find any sign of Cresselia. So far, he'd had no luck.

He had had to take down the occasional enemy or two, but they were just meaningless to him now. He was focused on surviving and protecting Cresselia. This tree-covered battlefield was his element; He could sneak up on unsuspecting enemies who were presumably looking for Cresselia just as he was, and quickly dispose of them by silently leaping down from the trees, clasping his hands around their necks and causing their eyes to close and their breaths to become desperate. So far, fourteen servants of Darkrai had suffered this fate since he had left the beach.

What he hadn't noticed until now, though, were the two Pokémon who had been tailing him for most of that time.

He threw himself down from a branch and turned to them, sizing them up. They were bipedal felines, a male and a female. The male was blue, with white tufts of fur and markings, while the other was that colour scheme but reversed. Their eyes glinted with malice; The male's green with blue pupils, the female's yellow with orange-red ones. They each had two tails.

Froakie didn't like these two Pokémon. He remembered Tyranitar telling him about their species, and how they had acute Psychic powers that surpassed most other non-legendaries of their type. They were Meowstic, the Constraint Pokémon. Tyranitar had mentioned that they were very rare Pokémon, and very few got to see one.

 _This must be my lucky day, getting to see two…_ Froakie thought to himself as he approached the two felines.

"You two have good stealth skills," Froakie said, "I've been trained to sense Pokémon following me, but I only picked up on you now. So, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"You're one of the Pokémon sent by Exploud," The male one said.

"So, naturally, we, two of the army's leaders, have made the decision to hunt and kill you." The female finished his sentence.

"Now the hunting part is over," The male began.

"So now all that's left is to… Kill you." The female said, then they both moved.

They were fast, he had to say. But he was faster. He dodged a double Confuse Ray by leaping onto the ground, then stood back up and looked at the twin cats.

"This…" He said, "Could be interesting."

* * *

 **A/N: Here's Chapter 22. For what it was, I think it turned out quite good, but what I have planned for the rest of the battle promises to outshine it. Chespin got some development in this Chapter, and we get to see just how much our strong-willed young protagonist has grown since Chapter 1. The short sequence between Froakie and the Meowstic towards the end was pretty cool, too. Well, at least it was when I pictured it in my head. I'm going to try and get Part 1 finished (3 or 4 Chapters to go!) before December. I need to take a short break from this story after that, as I have tests and I need to start planning the story again, and finalising the entire arc of Part 2. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thanks for reading. I'll see you all in the next one!**


	27. Chapter 23: Battle on Lunar Island (2)

_Chapter 23_

Fennekin, like her two friends, wandered through the woods, in search of Cresselia. She felt scared, as she was alone, and worried for her friends, as they were alone too. She wished they hadn't had to split up, but what Froakie had said was true, and they would find Cresselia quicker if they covered separate areas themselves.

She had been lucky so far in terms of attacks by Darkrai's subordinates; The one time she had been found, it had been by a Whimsicott and a Scolipede, two normally powerful Pokémon, but no match for a Fire-type. She had dispatched them easily and then slowly proceeded, looking around for any side of the Pokémon Darkrai had been born from.

She wondered what Cresselia was like. Was she proud and strong-willed, like Miss Shaymin and Chespin were? Or maybe she was silent and powerful, like Froakie. Maybe she was slow and dopey, like Slowbro had been before he evolved. She laughed at this, remembering all the good times their group had had on that previous mission.

This mission was much more intense and foreboding. Fennekin didn't want to think about what would happen if Darkrai himself showed up to try and kill Cresselia. Not for the first time, she chided Exploud internally for sending three young rookies on this life-threatening mission, and Chespin for being foolish enough to accept it.

There she was again, thinking about Chespin, even at a time like this. He really was something. She remembered seeing him face down the Dread Buccaneer, and wondered if he had moved on now, and was in the same situation she was in presently.

"Lady Cresselia?" She called, trying to take her mind off Chespin and back to the mission at hand.

She hadn't expected an answer, but one came.

 _Hello?_ A serene, beautiful voice, even more soothing than that of Lapras, rang out through the trees. But it wasn't really someone actually speaking, she realised: It was just telepathy. A Psychic-type was trying to reach out to her mind.

"Lady Cresselia?" She said again, this time a little louder.

 _Greetings, young hero. Yes, it is I, Cresselia._

This time, Fennekin didn't call out. She just thought in her head, _Really?_ , hoping that the telepathy worked both ways.

Luckily, it did, and she heard a reply of _I'm glad I could reach you. Your two friends don't seem to be very…_ In tune _with their inner voices._

 _I guess you could say that… Anyway, are you safe? Where are you, exactly?_

 _I am with my comrades, fighting against Darkrai's forces. There's a huge clearing, in the centre of the Island. There sits Lunar Temple, my residence. You will find me there. Hurry, little one! We have much to do, and very little time to do it in!_

Fennekin wondered what she had meant by that last part, but the telepathic communication seemed to have been interfered with or something. Maybe telepathy was like the "Phone signal", in the human world that Luxray had described to her many times. It sounded very unreliable, and was one of the reasons Fennekin was glad she wasn't a human.

She was fully aware that the voice of the telepathy could have been one of Darkrai's minions pretending to be Cresselia to trick her and lure her into their clutches, but that was a chance she was willing to take. Her friends were fighting hard somewhere in this forest, and she wanted to do her part too.

Fennekin made her way through the forest, trying to reach the centre of the island. It was difficult to navigate, as every area looked the same, and she was worried that she was just walking in circles. This fear disappeared when she ran into another group of Darkrai's grunts, a Stunfisk, Doduo and Nidorino.

"Hey, it's one of those three Pokémon Pyroar sent us to find!" The Stunfisk said slowly. His speech reminded her of Slowpoke's, deep and monotonous.

 _Who's Pyroar? Probably one of their leaders…_

"Attack!" The Nidorino shouted, charging towards Fennekin with his pointed purple horn protruding outwards. Fennekin was nervous for a moment, like she always was before a fight, but fired an Ember to stop him in his tracks. The purple quadruped was burned, and yelled with panic and pain.

"Come any closer and you two will get burned too!" Fennekin spat, animosity in her face. She was full of fighting spirit, now that her nerves had dissipated.

"Retreat!" The Nidorino cried hoarsely.

"But… Pyroar said…" Stunfisk started to protest, but Nidorino pushed he and Doduo out of the way of another Ember attack from Fennekin, and they turned tail.

That had been easy. Fennekin was almost disappointed that she didn't get to fight those grunts. Still, she decided that she'd rather save her energy in case she encountered this Pyroar Pokémon, whoever he was.

She was about to forge on, but then she was hit by a green beam of energy. She screeched in pain and turned to see her attacker.

The Signal Beam had come from a Yanmega. Three Skorupi and a Drapion also emerged from the underbrush.

 _Those three jokers were just a distraction for these guys to get close to me!_ Fennekin realised.

"Hello, little Fennekin," The Yanmega said.

"Lost, are you?" The Drapion added, grinning intimidatingly at her.

At first she panicked, but steeled her resolve. These were just Bug types, and she was a Fire type. She could easily take them, right? She hoped so, anyway, or she was in trouble.

She made her move before the Yanmega could launch another attack, lifting a Skorupi with Psybeam and throwing him into the other two, causing them to fall like dominoes. Calls of protest from the little scorpion Pokémon could be heard as they fell on top of one another, but Fennekin didn't listen. She was in tune with the battle, and needed to be if she wanted to win against the two bigger Bug types.

The Drapion lunged forward at her between the trees with his huge arms, which she narrowly avoided. She spat Embers at him, but he didn't seem to care as much as the Nidorino did.

"Give yourself up!" The huge scorpion said.

"You'll die here even if you beat us!" His dragonfly companion added.

Yanmega whipped up a Gust attack that lifted Fennekin into the air. She screamed as she was caught up in a small twister, then Drapion caught her in his claws as she was coming back down. She wriggled in the firm grasp of his sharp claws that were sticking into her torso, but couldn't get out of his Vice Grip attack.

"Gotcha!" He exclaimed, "Now, do you want to be taken to Pyroar to be killed by him or do you want us to just be done with it now?"

Yanmega laughed as the little fox squirmed powerlessly in his friend's grasp. They had had to sacrifice their Skorupi pawns to get her, but Pyroar would be pleased with them when they brought her to him, dead or alive.

"T-Take me to Pyroar!" Fennekin shouted between strangled gasps.

"Very well," Drapion smiled cruelly as he watched her struggle.

Fennekin couldn't believe it. These Pokémon, despite being weak to her attacks, had overpowered her so quickly. Was the difference between she and them that great? She gave up fighting and just hung limply in Drapion's pincers, the bravado she had felt during the fight long since gone. How had things turned out so badly?

Drapion trudged through the woods, seemingly knowing where he was going, with Yanmega flying at a short distance behind him.

"You're not the only unlucky one of your little group, you know," Drapion said as they walked.

A lump grew in Fennekin's stomach, knowing what was coming.

"What do you mean?" She asked apprehensively.

"Your two little friends," the huge scorpion grinned, "Are being hunted, too. Not by us mere soldiers, though; By three of the Generals!"

Fennekin gasped. Her friends were in danger? She cursed herself for getting caught too, and vowed to find a way out of this and go help them...

* * *

Froakie raced through the trees, firing Water Shuriken behind him at the pursuing Meowstic. After a short bout, he had realised that when they unfurled their ears, their Psychic type moves increased in power, and that he couldn't beat both of them in a two-on-one fight. He decided to retreat and try to outrun them for a while to try and make a plan of action.

"You can't escape us!" The female Meowstic called behind him. The two felines were extremely nimble and powerful, although not quite as powerful as Froakie himself, or so he thought. As long as they didn't have their ears unfurled and didn't take any Psychic attacks head-on, he could win.

He kept telling himself he could win, but for the first time in a while he was afraid. He didn't even know why, as he had killed many Pokémon that were much stronger than them.

 _But those were assassinations… Not straight-up fights!_

Black orbs of energy followed him. They were using Shadow Ball. He cleverly evaded them by jumping from tree to tree.

He was stopped dead in his tracks when the male Meowstic suddenly appeared in his path. He roared with shock, lost his balance on the branch he was on and fell down to the leafy ground.

His back coursed with pain when he landed, and he groaned. That had been unexpected, and now they were catching up to him!

He needed to do something, quickly. The male Meowstic used Teleport again to warp down from the tree to the ground where Froakie lay, and the young ex-assassin could see the female Meowstic approaching, too.

"Damn it…" He whispered to himself.

"You've failed, little one," The male said.

"You thought you could escape us," The female continued.

"But you weren't quick enough… How disappointing." The male finished.

Froakie glared up at them.

 _I have to get up… I have to fight! But_ what can I do _?_

He looked around desperately. The Meowstic were looking at each other as if silently planning something. He needed to get up and fight before they could launch whatever attack they were going to do next.

Froakie braced himself and stood back up, feeling the pain across his whole body from his fall intensifying. He could still stand, though. He had suffered a lot more pain than just a fall from a tree.

To start his second round with the two Meowstic off, he sent a Power-Up Punch to the chest of the male. He gasped for air, and although the move wasn't very effective against him, he still seemed to have taken a fair bit of damage. He gave Froakie an angry glare as he tried to pick himself up. The female's ears unfurled, but before she could attack Froakie closed in on her and kicked her with the increased power of his last move. She too cried out after the attack, but still stood. Froakie couldn't get out of the way of her Psywave, which sent him down on his knees, clutching his head. The attack hurt a lot, but he stuck it out.

Froakie got up again and sent an array of Bubbles towards the female Meowstic. She wasn't expecting the huge Water Shuriken he launched which had been cloaked in the bubbles before it struck her in the chest.

Both were down, but not out. The male got up and used Helping Hand on the female, picking her up too.

"You have some strong attacks, little one," The female said robotically.

"But not strong enough!" The male chimed in.

 _They're right…_ He thought, _Maybe I_ am _out of my league here… I mean, I used to be an assassin, but I've never fought on a real battlefield before!_

"Shall we call some of them in?" The male looked at his female counterpart questioningly.

"Yes, I think that would be a good idea. He can't even handle the two of us, so surely he'll be overwhelmed by our squadron!"

Froakie gulped. Surely they weren't going to call in reinforcements? He tried to reassure himself, remembering when he had taken down all of Granbull's gang by himself.

 _But they were only incompetent thugs… These are trained servants of Darkrai…_

Froakie was in dire straits, and he knew it himself. He wished he hadn't split from Chespin and Fennekin…

* * *

Chespin sat down on a log and pondered his situation. He had been trying to get through this forest for ages, but had no luck in finding Cresselia or any other Pokémon. He hadn't even ran into any enemies since Crawdaunt, so he worried about his friends, knowing that they were probably having a worse time of it.

 _Darn it…_ He thought, _I wish I knew where I was going. If Fennekin was here, she'd be able to navigate this place. She has really good intuition…_

He kicked a little pebble in frustration. How was he supposed to protect Cresselia and fight Darkrai's forces if he didn't even know where they were?

Meanwhile the large Pokémon who had been tailing him watched from the cover of the trees. This was his chance! He could ambush the little brat, and end him there and then!

Chespin was trying to cheer himself up about his lack of progress when he was whacked in the head by a football-sized rock, which shattered to pieces upon crashing into his head. He tried to stand and look for his attacker, but he felt dizzy from the blow. He touched the side of his head, and was startled when he felt blood running down it.

"Get out here!" He shouted angrily to his attacker.

"Only if you insist," The huge Pokémon said as he stepped out of the shadows. He was a huge grey biped with a long, tree trunk-like tail and a drill-like horn atop his head. His eyes blazed with a primeval urge for violence and bloodshed.

"Who are you?!" Chespin said furiously, trying once more and succeeding to stand.

"I am Rhydon," He said, "One of the four Generals of the Lunar Island attack army!"

 _Damn it, he's one of the Generals, so he must be strong!_ Chespin thought, panicking. He didn't know if he could take on this huge Pokémon after just recently defeating Crawdaunt, another large and powerful adversary.

"Can you guess why I'm here?" Rhydon said in his gravelly voice.

"I guess you're here to try and kill me?" Chespin said, trying to sound cool and nonchalant, as if he wasn't as scared of this huge foe as he was.

Rhydon smiled wickedly. "You're right!"

The huge Pokémon lumbered towards Chespin. He was slow, and that was always a bonus. Chespin was quite proud of his speed, so at least he had an advantage there.

As Chespin moved out of the way of a Mega Punch attack from Rhydon, the latter swung his tail which slammed into Chespin, knocking the wind out of him for a moment. The little Pokémon struggled to get up after the powerful attack, but forced himself up.

 _This is bad…_ Chespin thought, _How am I supposed to fight this powerful guy?_

As he went to make a move, Rhydon advanced on him again. This time, he was ready. Chespin summoned an Energy Ball into his hand and launched it at Rhydon with incredible force, keeping the large enemy at bay.

When Rhydon was getting back up, Chespin saw his opportunity and rushed him with a Power-Up Punch. He felt the energy rush through him as he jumped back, avoiding Rhydon's counterattack.

"You're not half bad," Rhydon said, "But I am the great one!"

He then used his original attack, Rock Blast. Chespin leaped over the oncoming onslaught of large stones and then launched another Energy Ball of his own, breaking the remaining rocks and then crashing into Rhydon. This time, he didn't seem to feel much from it. He just laughed.

"Nice try, using Energy Ball again," Rhydon glared with contempt, "But the same attack won't work on me twice!"

He charged Chespin with a speed he didn't know he had. Chespin was shocked by the sudden charge, and didn't have a chance to get out of the way. He was crushed by a Body Slam, and his vision went blurry.

Rhydon got off Chespin, then picked up the little Pokémon with his large clawed hand.

"Any last words?" Rhydon asked. Chespin shot him a rage-filled glare.

"You're crazy if you think this is the end of this fight!" Chespin roared determinedly, and kicked Rhydon in the chest with all the force he could muster. Rhydon loosened his grip for a moment and Chespin landed back on the ground. He then kicked Rhydon again in the same spot and the large Pokémon cried out in agony. The Double Kick had worked well, and Chespin was free again. He had gotten himself out of a tight spot.

Before Rhydon could take back the upper hand, Chespin rushed in and landed a second Power-Up Punch. He'd thought that this might be dangerous, but although the huge bipedal rhinoceros tried to grab him again, he leaped back to launch his next move.

"You brat!" Rhydon roared, holding his chest. "You dare try and best me?"

"I think I'm succeeding so far, no offence!" Chespin smiled cheekily.

"That can only go on for so long!"

Rhydon reached down, and with a rattling sound, pulled something out of the small pouch tied around his waist. Chespin didn't know what he was doing.

"What's that?" Chespin asked.

Rhydon was holding a brown brick-like item. He grinned smugly.

"I was hoping you'd ask that. I didn't think that the time I finally used it would be against you but since you're such an insolent little brat I want to crush you entirely!"

He held the brick to his chest, and began to glow white. Panic rose through Chespin. Was it a Mega Stone?

It wasn't a Mega Stone, but Rhydon was just evolving normally. The item had triggered his evolution, and his body grew a lot wider, and the grey colour of his body turned dark brown, with red plates covering parts of it. He had a club-like tail, and two drill-like horns instead of one.

"You're doomed now, brat!" The new Pokémon laughed, "I just used the Protector my Master Darkrai entrusted to me, and have become Rhyperior!"

Chespin couldn't hide the fear and panic on his face. This was too much. This huge Pokémon was undoubtedly going to be the end of him.

 _No. I can't just give in. I have to fight on. Guildmaster Exploud gave me this mission because he believed in me… Lucario would want me to fight my hardest… I can't let everyone down!_

Chespin's look of fear and shock turned to a cocky smile, although he didn't feel confident in the slightest.

"I don't care if you're evolved or not," He said, "I'll still bring you down, because one day I'm going to be a great hero!"

* * *

 **A/N: Here's Chapter 23, which I think turned out pretty good. I spent a lot more time on this one than I would on most other chapters, as I found it hard to make the three different events of the chapter as good as they could be. It still has some of the best action scenes so far in my opinion. It was also just the first part of the three heroes' battles with Darkrai's generals, which will be continued in the next chapter. Also, thanks for all the favourites, follows and reviews. I'd like to give shoutouts to Talarc and Ckbrothers, as well. They're great authors and friends and you should check out their stories. Anyway, see you all in the next chapter!**


	28. Chapter 24: Battle on Lunar Island (3)

_Chapter 24_

The Water Shuriken whirled in midair, ricocheting off a tree trunk to knock over the male Meowstic. His female counterpart launched a Psybeam at Froakie, but the nimble young ninja frog jumped out of the way with skill. He then rushed her and used Power-Up Punch. He felt the familiar power boost, but it would do him no good. This fight was pointless. The two Psychic-types were too well coordinated and powerful, as well as having good defences, so Froakie's attacks barely did anything too them.

"Nice try, kid!" The male Meowstic laughed.

"Why haven't you given up yet?" The female sneered, "After all, you're only a child, and we've been fighting for decades!"

Froakie glared in defiance, "I won't give up because I've taken on Pokémon far stronger than you when I was only out of my egg a few years!"

The female Meowstic smiled tauntingly. "You're nothing, little one. Don't brag like you're some kind of great Pokémon. Lord Darkrai is the only great one in this world!"

" _Shut up_!" Froakie punched her in the face again, and this time she was caught off guard. The male tried to get up and counterattack, but he was knocked down too.

"Darkrai is _not_ great! He _kills_ good Pokémon, all to fulfil his own stupid goals! Are you saying that's right? Are you saying Pokémon deserve to die?!"

"If they defy our Master, yes," The male said.

"Just like you are doing now." The female continued monotonously.

Froakie wanted to roar with anger and beat these two to a pulp, but he had used too many Water Shuriken and Power-Up Punches, so his body ached. He wanted to collapse on the ground. This fight had taken it out of him and he had barely even caused his enemies any pain. He was seething with himself. If he survived this encounter, he would have to train even harder than he did already.

 _How are they not taking damage from these attacks? I keep attacking, but they just keep getting up!_

He levitated for a moment due to a Confusion attack from the male Meowstic, then was sent crashing into a tree. He groaned in pain. This was it for him! He had almost completely run out of energy, and he'd barely left even a scratch on his foes.

"You've been fighting valiantly," The male Meowstic said.

"But unfortunately, we are the stronger ones in this match," The female added.

"Shut up!" Froakie shouted, "I won't accept defeat!"

In truth, he was just waiting for the two telepathic felines to kill him there and then. They were just toying with him now, letting him hit them knowing full well that he would eventually tire out. They were just playing a waiting game.

 _Yes, little one! That's the spirit!_

Froakie cried out in shock. He really must have been tired! He had just heard a voice in his head.

 _Just hold on a little longer, hero! You did well against the two strongest generals! I'm glad I finally got in touch with you! My friends will be arriving soon!_

Froakie tried to keep the fact from his enemies that a voice, whom he presumed was Cresselia, was talking to him inside his head. He did know that she was a Psychic Pokémon, but this was his first time being contacted via telepathy, so he had the usual reaction.

He silently tried to communicate back to her, _Tell your friends to hurry! I don't think I have long left before they end this!_

As the two Meowstic stood over his fatigued body, seemingly planning how to end him for good, Froakie wondered how things had ended up this way. Since he arrived at Treasure Town, he had been winning fight after fight, even against Pokémon much stronger than him. How was it that these two fiends were putting him through so much?

He physically could no longer move, as he was so tired out from trying to fight back and avoid his foes. However, it seemed as if they had finished playing with him.

"Now, let's end him!" The female Meowstic yelled.

"Say your goodbyes to the mortal world, little one!" The male laughed cruelly.

Two pairs of ears unfurled and Froakie braced himself for the inevitable impact of two extremely powerful Psychic attacks.

 _Looks like this is it… You had a good life, Froakie. I just wish I could have stood up to Tyranitar. Chespin, Fennekin, please get off this island alive… Please don't make the same mistake I made, thinking I could take on the generals…_

The light purple blasts fired.

 _It's… Over…_

 _Not today!_

Before they hit Froakie, the Psywave attacks were dissipated and neutralised by a Night Shade attack. A Dark type move? Most Dark types were evil, these days. Did Cresselia have a Dark type on her side?

The wave of dark energy, after cancelling out their attacks, wiped out the two Meowstic, causing them to be knocked to the ground, just as Froakie had caused them to do several times in the fight. This time, they were in actual pain, though. They cried out in unison. A volley of Shadow Balls then flew over Froakie's shoulder, and the two Meowstic were almost knocked out.

"This… Can't be…" The male said feebly before he passed out.

"We… Were so close…" The female protested, doing the same.

Froakie then turned to find his saviours.

There were three of them. Two were small, floating little octopi with pink hat-like feelers on their heads. The second was a larger, cruel looking octopus with a purple face and evil-looking eyes. He had a warm smile, though, and nodded to Froakie when he noticed he was looking back at him.

"Greetings, young hero," The larger octopus spoke, "I am Malamar, and these are my allies, the Inkay twins. I'd like to thank you for wearing those two down, as I myself am not the most powerful Pokémon, and probably wouldn't have been much help to you if you hadn't done most of the work. You fought bravely for one so young!"

Froakie smiled a little, then said, "Thanks. I feel like I wasn't doing any damage to them, though… They almost had me. You guys saved my life."

The Inkay to Malamar's right spoke. "It was nothing!"

The Inkay to his left added, "Yeah! It was nothing!"

Malamar's eyes glowed, and Froakie felt himself being lifted up.

"Woah!" Froakie shouted, "What are you doing!"

"He's carrying you, silly!" One of the Inkay said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"With his telekinesis!" The other explained.

"Why?!" Froakie said, "Where are we going?"

"You are full of questions, little one," Malamar said, and laughed a bit, "It seems you overexerted yourself so much that walking would be a bad idea, so I opted to carry you. We're going to Lady Cresselia's home here on the island. It's in the centre, and we currently have a situation."

"A situation?" Froakie looked worried. Had more of Darkrai's generals attacked Lady Cresselia's home?

"You'll see when we get there!" Malamar said, picking up the pace.

Froakie felt a strange sensation pass through his body. He didn't know what it was, but it was relaxing.

 _So tired… Maybe I'll just… Close my eyes…_

* * *

Fennekin had been carried by Drapion a very long way through the thick, dense forest. The beating of Yanmega's wings was really annoying her, but none of them spoke during the journey, which was seemingly going to be endless.

 _My friends… I wonder if they're all right…_ Fennekin worried to herself as they trudged through the woods. _I hope Chespin hasn't bitten off more than he can chew… That idiot… I can imagine him now, trying to face some kind of huge Pokémon on his own!_

She decided to worry about herself for the time being, and focused on trying to figure out a way to break free of Drapion's tight grip and somehow overpower the two strong Bug types.

 _I'm all alone on this one…_ She sighed.

* * *

Chespin was terrified at his enemy's new form. He looked even more stronger than he did as a Rhydon. His horn looked like it could impale Chespin in no time flat, and Chespin was determined not to let that be the case.

"Come and get me, you freak!" He taunted as he ran circles around Rhyperior. The huge Pokémon tried to catch him and fired rocks from the new launcher on the palm of his hand, but this was futile. Chespin was faster than he was, even more so in his new form.

"You're asking for this, little runt!" Rhyperior roared, and he stomped the ground. A huge shake rattled on the ground Chespin was walking on, and a sizeable chasm opened up. Chespin screamed as the Earthquake took effect. Chespin plummeted down from the cracks his enemy had made on the ground of the forest.

"How's the weather down there, little punk?" He heard Rhyperior's echoed shout from the top.

He latched onto a small handhold quite far down that jutted out. He heaved a sigh of relief. He wasn't going to die today! The moment of panic he felt when Rhyperior had made the hole in the ground had been for nothing. He used Vine Whip to pull himself up and launch out of the chasm, landing a Power-Up Punch on Rhyperior. The large Pokémon roared in shock.

"What the hell? How did you save yourself? You should have died from that fall!"

Chespin smiled and rubbed dust from himself.

"I'm a Grass type, idiot. I just used Vine Whip! Do you really think that would have killed me? You need to think your attacks through!"

Rhyperior just got more and more enraged upon hearing Chespin's insults. He launched rocks at random again, but Chespin easily evaded them, catching him off guard by catching one of the rocks with a Vine Whip and tossing it back at him. It whacked off his skull, just as his first attack of their battle had whacked off Chespin's, and he was sent into a daze.

Chespin looked around, and his gaze went to the chasm Rhyperior had created using Earthquake.

 _Would it be possible…?_ He formulated a plan in his head, and prayed that the gaping hole would be big enough for the plan to work. He saw his chance now that Rhyperior was still dazed, and decided to take the gamble.

He used Grass Knot to entangle Rhyperior from his large torso. He then mustered up all the strength he could get, and lifted the huge, heavy, roaring Pokémon off the ground. It was strenuous, but he managed, using the full extent of the strength he had.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Rhyperior protested, "I am the great one, not you! I will be the victor in this battle!"

"Sorry, buddy," Chespin grinned, "Even though you evolved in battle, it ended up your downfall. You're slower now, so you can't dodge my attacks. I planned my attacks, and you didn't. Goodbye, General Rhyperior!"

He tossed the Pokémon's gargantuan body and he just narrowly fitted into the huge chasm of his own creation. He tried to stop himself from falling, but the impact of his fall and the attempts of his heavy hands to hold onto the edges made them give way and he was sent falling to the bottom with a large banging sound.

Chespin punched the air. He'd done it! He'd beaten his second powerful foe today! He was beginning to feel the strain of lifting Rhyperior by himself, though, and felt faint. He tried to keep himself going, and began to walk through the forest again.

 _I did it again, guys!_ Chespin thought, hoping his friends were having the same success.

 _Now, if only I knew where I was going…_

* * *

Fennekin could see a clearing in the trees as Drapion and Yanmega reached their destination.

"This is it, little one!" Drapion chuckled, "The place where you'll meet your doom!"

The clearing was massive and circular. In the centre was a large, square building, the roof held up by white marble pillars. It was plain, but beautiful. The scene in front of her, however, was not.

The Psychic Pokémon of Lunar Island fought a losing battle against the servants of Darkrai, and in the centre, a floating, graceful, beautiful-looking Pokémon was being snapped at by the sharp, gleaming white fangs of a large, lion-like Pokémon with a red and yellow mane. He looked fierce, and an air of dominance could be felt from him even from as far away as Fennekin was.

"Hey, boss! We got one!" Drapion shouted, and the battling stopped for a moment. The servants of Darkrai turned their heads, and turned their attention from brutally mauling the allies of Cresselia to staring intently at Drapion.

The servants of Darkrai cheered for Drapion. Pyroar smiled evilly at Fennekin. She looked at Lady Cresselia. She had a fearful look in her eyes.

 _Fennekin, I'm sorry my allies couldn't get to you on time. I managed to contact your blue friend, and sent one of my most trusted soldiers to help him out, but I still can't get in contact with the other…_

Despite the perilous situation she was in, Fennekin still worried about Chespin. Was he doing all right, or had he been attacked by a Pokémon more powerful than even Drapion and Yanmega? Maybe he was even…

She pushed horrible thoughts out of her mind and let herself drop to the ground as Drapion released her.

"Go," Drapion growled.

"What? Go where?" She asked.

"To _Pyroar_ , you idiot!"

She stood there for a moment, but he gave her a forceful push that sent her falling forward on her face. The silent crowd of Darkrai's followers burst out in laughter. The Psychic Pokémon, most of them being held in choke-holds by their foes, shouted angrily at them for doing so.

"She's just a child!" One of the Psychic types shouted.

"Yeah, but a battlefield is no place for a child!" A Pangoro grumbled, "And now the boss is gonna kill her as an example to her friends!"

Hearing this, she went pale. Was that true?

Pyroar was getting impatient.

"Child, come here!" His booming, almost royal-sounding voice blasting her ears.

Slowly, she edged across the battlefield, feeling at least fifty pairs of eyes on her. She tried not to stumble, and approached the huge lion.

"You are from Exploud's Guild, yes?" He addressed her, a look of distaste in her eyes. Cresselia looked at her from beside Pyroar, a helpless look in her eyes.

 _Answer him, Fennekin. It's what he wants._

"Y-Yes." She managed.

An uproar of laughter sounded across the clearing again.

"This is what Exploud is employing these days?!" A Pokémon shouted.

"What a joke! He must really be desperate!" Another gawked.

"Very well," Pyroar said, "And you have two friends who came here with you, yes?"

"Th-That's right," She murmured.

"Very well," He repeated, "We shall wait until they arrive before I kill you."

"You won't kill her, you monster!" Cresselia shouted beside him, "I won't let you!"

"You don't seem to be doing much at the moment, 'Lady Cresselia'," Pyroar sneered, "Is something wrong? Or have you just accepted that Master Darkrai is going to kill you and take all the power that is rightfully his!"

" _Shut up_!" Fennekin snarled, "You're despicable! All of you! You and that foul Master of yours!"

The crowd went silent once more. Rage filled Pyroar's eyes, and terror in Cresselia's.

The large lion advanced on Fennekin and swiped her down with a single flick of his paw. She fell to the ground once more. He held her down with his other front paw, and leaned down at her, leering with his deadly-looking fangs showing.

"How dare you insult Darkrai!" The general roared. His breath smelt like burning wood, and Fennekin was terrified that a jet of flame would come out of it and incinerate her at any minute.

"If I wasn't a Pokémon of my word," He hissed, "I would strike you down here and now. However, we're going to wait here for your friends, _then_ you'll die!"

He released her, then looked around at his army and a bellowing laugh erupted from him.

"Now, continue what you were doing, my friends!" Pyroar commanded his followers, and they went back to fighting the Psychic types that they had previously been holding down.

It was as if time had just stopped for a few minutes, and was now restarting. Fennekin didn't dare to move, as she knew Pyroar would just snap and kill her. Cresselia seemed to have the same fears, despite being a Legendary Pokémon.

 _My power is being restrained,_ Cresselia explained to her.

 _By what? Or who?_

 _That Pokémon at the edge of the clearing._

It was a Pokémon unlike any Fennekin had seen before. Luxray had shown her once about how the human world was only one of many different planets in a huge, expansive universe, and humans believed that there was life on other planets, and called these extraterrestrial beings "aliens". He had shown her a picture once, and this Pokémon resembled one of them. It didn't engage in battle, but made hand movements and gestures, calling on its Psychic powers to restrain Cresselia.

 _What Pokémon is that?_ Fennekin asked her.

 _Beheeyem,_ Cresselia answered, _Its kind live alone on a very remote island… I don't know how Darkrai managed to convince it to join him…_

 _It's bad news for us, anyway._

 _You're right. If it wasn't here, I'd be able to crush these fools!_

Fennekin didn't know what to do. She had gone from a bad situation to an even worse one, and now she was going to be killed once her friends arrived. This mission had most definitely failed. They should never have accepted this mission. If they hadn't, maybe they would have got to live full lives.

 _Chespin, Froakie…_ She thought desperately, _Please be okay…We really need your help…_

* * *

 **A/N: Here's Chapter 24. It was a difficult one to write, but I think it turned out quite well. Things are intensifying as we head towards the final battle of Part 1. Be sure to follow, favourite and review. There may be quite a wait for Chapter 25 as I think I might make it longer than usual Chapters, and have it as the entire conclusion of Part 1, as I want to have Part 1 finished before next week when my Christmas exams start. It may be Saturday or Sunday before I have it done, so bear with me. I hope you are enjoying these Chapters, and I think the conclusion to Part 1 will be the biggest moment of the story so far (Well, it depends on how well I write it). See you all in the next one!**


	29. Chapter 25: Battle on Lunar Island (4)

_Chapter 25_

"Absol, Gardevoir?" Darkrai addressed his two followers for the first time in quite a while. They had been so absorbed in the action on Lunar Island that there had been no sound in the room apart from the occasional vicious outburst from Absol.

"Yes, Master?" Absol said eagerly, "Is it finally time?"

"I don't know yet, but maybe," The phantom-like lord of darkness whispered, "Three out of the four generals have been defeated by these three young Guild fools. Pyroar is the only one left, but we all know that he thinks he's far stronger than he is. He's the strongest of the four generals I sent, but he's in fact the weakest link in the chains of this army. I fear that our mission to destroy Cresselia might end up failing if we just let him do what he wants."

"True." This was one of those rare times when Gardevoir spoke.

"Yes, Master!" Absol howled with pleasure, "This is what I've been waiting for! I can hardly wait to get out there and slaughter some fools!"

"Now, now, Absol," Darkrai said, "Let's not write Pyroar off as a failure straight away. Look, one of the heroes is coming towards the clearing!"

* * *

"Wake up!" Malamar called.

Froakie's eyes snapped open. "Wh-What?"

He felt invigorated. Whatever Malamar had done, it had replenished Froakie's energy.

"I feel… Way better!" Froakie shouted.

"Yeah, kid, I used Hypnosis on you and you restored some energy, big deal! Can you keep your voice down, too?!"

"Why?" Froakie's voice fell to a whisper.

"Because we're being stealthy, silly!" One of the Inkay said, floating along aimlessly after them.

"Look, kid," Malamar began, "I'm going to let you down now. See that Pokémon at the edge of those trees?"

Froakie dropped down to the ground and peered over through the cover of what remained of the forest. There was a clearing up ahead, and at the edge, closest to the trees, Froakie could see a floating, strange-looking Pokémon.

"What is that?"

"It's a Beheeyem."

Froakie gasped, "I've heard of those! Don't they live way out on their own somewhere, though?"

"Yes, but Darkrai has recruited one and it's proving a huge threat as it is restricting Lady Cresselia's Psychic abilities! You need to sneak over there and break its concentration! You're fast and stealthy, right?"

Froakie thought for a moment then nodded. Being heralded as a prodigy assassin must have counted for something, right?

"I understand," Froakie said, "Thanks for putting me to sleep, Malamar. I feel uplifted! I can fight again now!"

"Good," Malamar smiled, "Because we've got one hell of a fight ahead of us, kid!"

Froakie silently sped through the trees, careful to be as light as he could on his feet as making a sound would alert the Beheeyem to his appearance. He considered throwing a Water Shuriken to catch it off guard, but then decided to go for a full-frontal attack from behind.

He got closer, until he was just inches away from the alien-like creature, who was still making weird hand movements and humming to himself.

 _What a weird Pokémon… What if it's already sensed me?_

Throwing caution to the wind, Froakie leaped onto the Beheeyem's back and seemed to have caught him by surprise. The alien creature yelled as the little frog punched him over and over, knocking him down onto the ground. Froakie looked around at all the Pokémon around him fighting. There were so many of Darkrai's followers and so few of Cresselia's. A lump grew in Froakie's throat when he saw the corpses of some Psychic types lying on the ground. He was filled with rage. That Pokémon he was clinging to the back of and beating away at was the reason Lady Cresselia couldn't help her allies. Beheeyem was the reason innocent Pokémon were dying here!

He knew Beheeyem deserved it, and got up off the alien's back, ceasing his relentless attacks.

"What?" The alien said in a somewhat metallic sounding voice, "Who are you?"

"My name's Froakie," Froakie replied, "And, I hate to do this, but this is the end for you!"

Pokémon started drawing their attention to him as he launched a Water Shuriken into the Beheeyem's back. Blood seeped out like a faucet from a gaping wound made from the force of the attack.

Froakie felt good, but also sick. This was the first Pokémon he had killed ever since he arrived at Treasure Town. Sure, he had beaten a few senseless, but this was his first kill in a while.

He looked down at the unmoving body of Beheeyem. Had this Pokémon really been bad, or had he just sided with Darkrai out of fear, like Zweilous back at the Guild had?

Froakie had no time to ponder, as he was narrowly saved from the attack of an approaching Machamp by a Psywave attack from Malamar. He and the Inkay emerged from the bushes.

"That was a good attack," Malamar said, "You did what had to be done! Now, let's win this battle!"

Pyroar noticed Froakie a moment after he, Malamar and the two Inkay joined the fight. He roared another booming roar.

"Halt once more!"

Worried tears ran down Fennekin's eyes as she saw Froakie.

"Froakie!" She called, "Run, Froakie! They'll kill you!"

Pyroar and the rest of Darkrai's army laughed.

"Kill him, will we? Fear not, my lad, for she is wrong. From what we've seen of you, we can gather that you are very powerful."

Froakie was advancing through the crowd towards Pyroar, Fennekin and Cresselia. The latter seemed to be deep in thought, as if she was planning something.

"I guess you could say that…" Froakie muttered, "I can show you if you like. Tell me who the hell you are first, and why you're holding my friend hostage."

"Ah, where are my manners? I am Pyroar, one of Darkrai's four generals for the attack on Lunar Island, and as you can see, I have captured your friend because she has disrespected me and my Master, so I am going to kill her once the third member of your little trio arrives."

Froakie looked around. Chespin wasn't there yet? Worry developed in the pit of his stomach about his friend, and he wondered if he would even make it there at all.

"I'm not going to let you do that, Pyroar," Cresselia spoke for the first time, "Froakie just killed Beheeyem, so I'm free to do what I want. Now I can pay you and your cronies back in full for what you've done to the Pokémon of Lunar Island!"

Pyroar threw his head back, his mighty mane whipping back as well. He laughed mockingly at the Legendary Pokémon.

"I don't think that'll happen, Lady Cresselia!" He said with mock sadness.

She blasted him with a Hyper Beam, but he moved out of the way.

"Followers of Darkrai, stop what you're doing and attack these enemies of our Master! We will have Lady Cresselia's head, in the name of our Lord!"

The remainder of the army stopped fighting Cresselia's underlings and headed for the outside of Cresselia's home, where Pyroar and the rest of them were.

Cresselia looked at Fennekin and Froakie.

"Are you two ready to fight? We're going to have to take down the rest of this army ourselves!"

Fennekin and Froakie nodded in agreement.

"Yes, Lady Cresselia!" Fennekin said.

"We'll do our best!" Froakie assured her, readying himself for battle.

"There's no chance of you fools defeating us!" Pyroar said, before swiping at Cresselia with a Shadow Claw. The Lunar Pokémon evaded and launched a Moonblast, ready to go head-to-head with Pyroar.

* * *

The oncoming ranks of Pokémon enveloped them, and soon Fennekin and Froakie were in the midst of a large battle. There must have been at least a hundred Pokémon left. This would be a difficult fight, even for them, who had been through so much since they had met.

Fennekin spat Embers at a charging Escavalier to stop his spear from ramming into Froakie, who was facing a powerful Primeape.

"This is going to be tough!" Froakie said to Fennekin.

"Yeah, you're right!" Fennekin nodded between attacks. She was trying to keep the onslaught of enemies at bay by throwing them backwards with Psybeams, but this worked slowly as she could only lift one Pokémon at a time for now.

Froakie was moving fast, creating illusions of himself with Double Team and misleading his enemies. Quite a few of them were down within ten minutes, and Fennekin gave Froakie an encouraging smile as if to say "Let's keep going!"

Meanwhile, Cresselia and Pyroar were duelling in the midst of Fennekin and Froakie's own battle. Pyroar launched blasts of flames, hindering all those fighting on the battlefield, but Cresselia avoided the attacks and returned fire with attacks of her own. She had the upper hand in this fight, as Pyroar was only a mere general while she was a Legendary Pokémon who had been fighting evil and protecting her comrades ever since the dawn of time.

"I must compliment you, Lady Cresselia," Pyroar said, "But I'm afraid all your attempts to defeat me are in vain! If I was you I would just give up and turn myself in to Master Darkrai! Maybe then your little heroes would be spared!"

Cresselia shook her head defiantly. "I will never bow down to Darkrai. If I allow him to get what he wants, this world will be doomed! I have to live on or else the world will go to Hell, even more so than it already has!"

She lifted him up with Psychic and threw the struggling lion into the wall of her home. He roared with a mixture of rage and pain.

"I'll have your head, Cresselia!" He got up and launched another wave of fire.

"Fat chance, you ignorant fool!" She cancelled out his Fire Blast with a Hyper Beam.

Pyroar leaped towards her when the dust from the attacks cleared, his fangs bared. Cresselia was still recharging from the Hyper Beam attack, so couldn't move out of the way. His fangs clamped down on her neck and she cried out in pain.

"Get off me, you fiend! How dare you?!"

She tried to attack, but she needed to restore more energy. As his fangs pierced deeper into her neck, blood poured from it. She cried out again, and soon began to have difficulty breathing.

Pyroar was then launched off her and sent flying sideways.

"Argh! It's you?!"

He had been knocked off Cresselia by a Low Kick from a small green Pokémon with a huge grin on his face.

Cresselia looked at him. "You must be Chespin?"

Chespin nodded, "Yeah, that's me! Cresselia, right? Sorry I'm late, I had a little trouble getting here!"

Despite herself, she laughed. "Ah, that's okay, little one!"

Chespin looked at her neck. "You're hurt…" He reached for the bag on his back, "I'll get an Oran Berry…"

"It's okay, I'll do it myself!"

She could finally move again. She channelled some power into healing herself, and used Recover. The healing took effect instantly, and the bite marks on her neck closed.

"You'll be okay?" Chespin asked considerately.

"Yes, don't worry about me."

Pyroar had gathered himself up again, "Hey, you little weakling? Where do you get off trying to attack _me_?"

Chespin looked quizzically at him, "I'm not on your side, what did you expect?"

The lion's blue eyes were full of intense hatred, "No matter. All three of you Guild idiots are here now, correct?"

"Fennekin and Froakie are here?" Chespin asked, looking around at the throngs of battling Pokémon. He spotted his friends in the middle, fighting hard.

"Yes. And now, as promised, it's time for me to destroy all three of you! I told your little Fire-type friend it would only be her who dies, but I think I've changed my mind after that kick you gave me! If you hadn't done that, I would have got to kill Cresselia and become my Master's right-hand Pokémon!"

"I don't think a Crunch attack would kill a Legendary Pokémon…" Chespin pointed out, to Cresselia's amusement.

" _Shut up_!" Pyroar hissed, "You'll be the first to die!"

Chespin looked him in the eye, "Bring it on! Lady Cresselia, go help my friends, then bring them here! This guy seems tough… I might need some help!"

Cresselia nodded, and Teleported a few feet into the crowd, leaving Chespin alone, stalling for time against a Pokémon strong against him until his friends arrived.

"What's your name, fool?" Pyroar asked him.

"Chespin!" He answered.

"I've never fought a Chespin before!" The large Fire-type laughed, "It will be fun to singe you to a pile of ashes!"

"Fat chance!" Chespin said, charging at the lion head-on. This was a bad idea. Pyroar used Flamethrower and the blast of heat hit him. He was blasted by the flames and sent flying, severely weakened by one attack.

 _That was stupid… I should have known he was going to do that! Plus, I'm still weak from fighting Rhyperior and Crawdaunt…_

Chespin got up and made an Energy Ball. He ran at Pyroar again, this time getting close enough before he could charge up a Fire attack. He tossed the Energy Ball at Pyroar. It made contact with him, but didn't seem to do anything.

Pyroar threw his head back and laughed. "Even for a Grass type, that was pretty weak- ARGH!"

He was stopped mid-sentence by a Power-Up Punch to the face. He was sent reeling, but didn't fall, which Chespin had to commend him for, considering he was part Normal-type and Fighting moves were super effective against him.

Pyroar roared angrily, and sent a flurry of flames Chespin's way. He was too fast, though, and got behind the shrine-like building where Cresselia presumably lived. The Fire Blast only burnt a nearby tree.

By the time Pyroar had pinpointed where Chespin had ran to, he was upon him again with another Power-Up Punch. This time, he was completely off-guard trying to track his foe. He was sent sprawling on the ground.

"Oh, yeah!" Chespin said triumphantly, "How do you like being beaten by a Grass type?!"

Pyroar got up, an even more intense rage showing in his eyes.

"You are just a little fool from the Guild!" Pyroar said, "You're fighting hard, but you're way out of your league!"

"I've been told that before, and I even thought that myself when I first came to this Island," Chespin told his enemy, "But I've been facing powerful enemies since before me and my friends even reached land, and I'm still here! You know why?"

Pyroar grit his teeth, "Why, fool? Let me guess, you're probably going to say 'Because of my friends' or something clichéd like that, correct?"

"Yeah, probably something like that!" A voice that wasn't Chespin's answered, and Pyroar turned his head a second too late to avoid a large Water Shuriken that blasted into him.

* * *

"Hey, Chespin," Froakie smiled, "You made it!"

"Did you doubt that I would?" Chespin said jokingly, "Fennekin, good to see you again, too!"

Even though they had only been apart for a short while, each of them felt truly elated to see their allies again.

"Well done, heroes," Cresselia said, "It looks like you've successfully stopped Darkrai's army from attacking Lunar Island!"

Chespin looked around at the fallen bodies of what had just a while ago been a small army of enemy Pokémon. His friends had defeated all of them, and he had only faced three real enemies? Maybe he hadn't improved as much as he thought. Still, he grinned as he realised that they had completed the mission.

Fennekin was also happy and pleased with herself. During her and Froakie's fight against the army, she had finally stood up to Drapion and Yanmega, the enemies who had captured her and brought her to the clearing-turned-battleground, and won against them.

Froakie looked at his saviour, Malamar, and his Inkay friends, who had been helping he and Fennekin fight. Malamar gave him a smile and a wink, then went off to join the other surviving residents of Lunar Island.

"Hey, idiots, I'm still alive!" Pyroar called.

He was still alive and standing, but only barely. He was severely weakened, and Chespin thought that it would be cruel to beat him down any further. Still, he had threatened to kill them…

"None of us really care about you, Pyroar," Cresselia said, "You can't do anything to us in that state. Right now you're just even more of a foolish henchman with delusions of grandeur than you ever were."

Pyroar spat on the ground, disgusted by Cresselia's harsh words. Chespin and Fennekin were laughing at what she had said, and even Froakie found it hard to suppress his smile.

"Are you fools mocking me?" Pyroar said, "Know your place, Cresselia. Even in this state, I can kill you! Then my Master would have to promote me to his finest lapdog, and that foolish newbie Absol would be sent to his rightful place, the battlefield, where he would do our dirty work!"

"Oh, would I, now?"

Pyroar's eyes widened along with Chespin and everyone else's when they turned and saw the Pokémon who had been speaking.

* * *

There he was, Darkrai. He had probably been watching the battle, and when his army had been defeated, teleported to Lunar Island. He was accompanied by Absol, the Pokémon who had spoken, and an elegant female Pokémon who looked uncomfortable.

"M-Master D-Darkrai?!" Pyroar stuttered.

Darkrai didn't look at him.

"I have no words for you, incompetent fool. Absol, you can finish him off after what he said about you."

Absol launched a pre-charged Razor Wind which, quite literally, tore Pyroar apart. The team of heroes watched in horror as Pyroar was brutally murdered.

"Greetings, Cresselia," Darkrai smiled.

"Don't greet me so casually after what your army has done to my home, you monster."

Chespin just stood there, open-mouthed. He could feel Fennekin shaking beside him. Even Froakie seemed terrified. None of them had been expecting Darkrai himself to show up with two more of his highest-ranked henchmen.

"How rude, Cresselia," Darkrai said, "Is that how you would address your own child, so to speak?

"You are no child of mine, you wretch."

"How insolent, 'mother'."

Cresselia seemed worried, and thought that this could be it for her.

"And these three must be your young saviours," Darkrai grinned at the three youths and Absol laughed mockingly.

"Absol, do not laugh. My apologies, young ones. I, for one, admire your bravery and might on the field of battle against my generals. However, you have angered me with your meddling in my affairs, so I will have to kill you alongside Lady Cresselia."

Still shaking, Chespin said, "Try us. You don't scare me… You're just a coward."

Absol growled furiously, but Darkrai silenced him by outstretching an arm.

"Now, now, Absol. He is just a child and doesn't know what he's saying. Tell me, what are your names, young ones?"

When no one answered for a few seconds, Chespin decided to speak, "I'm Chespin, and I'm going to be one of the elites of Exploud's Guild one day!"

Absol snorted with laughter again, which made Chespin want to hurt him.

"Very well met, Chespin," The Destroyer said, "And how about you, little one?" He looked at Froakie, "You're an interesting one, all right… I sense a… _Darkness_ in your heart. Perhaps your place is not with these fools, but in the ranks of my army!"

Froakie's face flushed and he glared at Darkrai. "Shut up!" He roared defiantly, with an anger that Chespin had never seen before from his friend, "You don't know anything about me, so shut up!"

Darkrai and Absol both erupted into laughter at this. At this time, Cresselia took the opportunity to reach them with her telepathy.

 _Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie,_ The Lunar Pokémon's voice telepathically reached the minds of her young heroes.

 _Yes, Lady Cresselia?_ Fennekin answered despite her fear.

 _You need to run. Right now, before he can attack. I'll fight him, and if I survive, I'll meet you three at the beach and we'll teleport to the Guild. I've already told my allies to start Teleporting away._

 _Okay, got it,_ Fennekin told the Legendary Pokémon.

 _I'm not leaving you, Lady Cresselia!_ Chespin protested, _Darkrai could_ kill _you! That's what he wants! Are you really gonna give him that?_

 _I'll try my best to get away from him,_ Cresselia said, _I promise you all that I will stay alive. Just go!_

They started to move, and Darkrai roared, "Where do you think you're going?! Trying to escape and leave behind mother dearest?!"

Cresselia fired a Moonblast at him, which barely affected him despite being super effective against Dark Pokémon. It still distracted him long enough for Chespin and friends to get some distance from them.

"Hey!" Absol yelled, "Get back here, cowards!"

"Absol, Gardevoir, get after them!" Darkrai roared, "As for you, Lady Cresselia… Get ready to die!"

 _Please try and survive, Lady Cresselia!_ Fennekin urged the Lunar Pokémon telepathically as she and her friends reached the forest once more, avoiding Moonblasts and Razor Winds being fired at them by their new pursuers. Absol's shrill screams of death threats could be heard behind them, vowing to catch up to them.

 _I'll try, Fennekin,_ Cresselia answered, _I'll try my best._

She then turned to her enemy with a look of disgust and hatred.

"Ready to die, mother?" Darkrai taunted, calling her 'mother' again to try and anger her. She tried to remain calm and not let it get to her.

"Not today, Darkrai."

* * *

 **A/N: Well, here's Chapter 25. Some crazy things happen, particularly towards the end, so I decided to split the action of Part 1's conclusion into this and Chapter 26, which will be up soon. The Battle of Lunar Island reaches its boiling point and no Pokémon is truly safe. I hope you liked the Chapter, and please review if you did. Also, thanks for 15 (It's 16 by the time I've written this) follows and favourites. See you all in the final Chapter of Part 1!**


	30. Chapter 26: The Three Fated Heroes

_Chapter 26_

Cresselia and Darkrai exchanged blows, firing Dazzling Gleam and Night Shade attacks, which cancelled each other out each time. It was a battle of stamina so far, and the winner would be whoever could deflect the most attacks.

Cresselia didn't fancy her chances. She was already tired from fighting Pyroar earlier, and had used a lot of energy with the Recover she used earlier to heal her neck wounds.

She couldn't use any Psychic attacks as they were ineffective against Darkrai.

 _How am I going to win?_ She was worried that she might not be able to keep her promise to Fennekin and the others.

She had to win, though. Not just for herself, but for all the Pokémon who had bravely fought during the Battle of Lunar Island. She couldn't let all their efforts to stop Darkrai from destroying her go to waste.

She was also very concerned for her young saviours. She was glad they had gotten away from Darkrai before he could kill them, but Absol and Gardevoir had been sent after them, which wasn't really any better. Absol seemed like a savage Pokémon after what he had done to Pyroar, who had been one of his allies. That Gardevoir was also strange, too. She seemed almost reluctant to be there.

"Why are you so silent, Cresselia?" Darkrai asked her as she avoided a Shadow Ball from him, "Are those three little cowards on your mind?"

"They're anything but cowards, Darkrai!" She said defiantly, "They fought extremely valiantly for me, and I have every faith that they will get off the Island!"

"Even if they do, it doesn't matter to me! I'm sure I'll meet them some other time, and you won't be there to save them then!"

She launched a Dazzling Gleam at him, which struck him, but again did little to no damage. She was exasperated that she couldn't destroy him where he stood as revenge for calling Chespin and friends cowards.

"If they are who I think they are, you will have a hard time destroying them, Darkrai!" She retorted.

"Oh, really? What do you mean by that?"

After dodging another attack from him, she replied, "Are you familiar with the ancient Prophecy from long ago?"

Darkrai laughed. "I know of what you speak. The one about the Three Heroes, one fire, one water and one grass?"

Cresselia nodded. "Yes. Well, if you know that Prophecy then surely you must know why I think these three children are the ones mentioned in it!"

Darkrai grinned, as if this was the funniest thing he had ever heard.

"Are you serious? Do you think those three fools are going to stop the ultimate force of evil to ever plague the Pokémon world? They ran away from me, for Arceus' sake! They'll be killed by Absol in no time!"

Cresselia tried to stave off her worry that what Darkrai was saying could be true.

"They will not be killed. I believe that, given time, they will become strong enough to overthrow you and bring back the Creator!"

"Three pipsqueaks cannot take down a Legendary Pokémon!" He raged, and threw a Shadow Ball at her for good measure. She was hit head-on by the orb of dark energy, but it didn't do as much damage as either of them thought it would.

 _I need to finish this fast, or else escape. If I'm going to get out, though, I want to know something first…_

"You say you were born of me," Cresselia said, "How is that possible?"

Darkrai smiled, "Warming to the idea of being my mother, are you?"

"No, it still revolts me," She retorted, "I just want to know how you were created."

He laughed cruelly. "You really don't remember? Well, it all started a few months ago, during your decade-long sleep that you only quite recently woke up from. I believe it was just a few days before my attack on the Hall of Light that you woke up?"

"Yes," She replied, "My first memory of seeing you is during a premonition I had shortly after Master Arceus' attack. It was a vile premonition, and I saw you declaring that your next plan of action was to go to Lunar Island."

"Yes, very well. To my knowledge, what happened was that you had a Prophecy mid-sleep. And guess what? It was that same Prophecy you were prattling on about just now!"

Cresselia realised that this was true. Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie had looked somehow familiar to her whenever she first saw them. Then… Did that mean they were really the Heroes?

"During your sleep, that Prophecy came to you, and set in motion. I believe you are familiar with Renegade Island?"

"Yes, it's… It's where Shaymin and the rest of the Legendary Pokémon fought and re-sealed Giratina back in his own dimension. That was many years ago now."

"Yes... Well, I was _born_ there. It's quite a strange feeling, being born. One second the island was derelict, lifeless and barren and next I emerge from the darkness. Intriguing, no?"

 _How ominous…_ Cresselia thought, _That the new threat to the world was brought to life on the very place where another old enemy was sealed! Perhaps there's some connection?_

"You've only been in this world for a while, Darkrai," Cresselia said, "But you've killed many innocent Pokémon, and that stops now!"

"Draco Canyon, the Hall of Light and Lunar Island were only the beginnings of a fine conquest," Darkrai said, "Besides, I'd like to see you try to stand in my way, in the condition you're in right now!"

"I'm well enough to take you down!" Cresselia bluffed. She wasn't really strong enough, but she reckoned she had just enough energy to badly injure Darkrai and get away from here, if she really pushed herself.

 _This might not be my dying day, yet._

"Enough beating around the bush!" Darkrai shouted, launching a dark purple ray from his hands. That was Hypnosis! She couldn't let the attack hit her. The world was depending on it…

Cresselia summoned up as much energy as she could spare. She put her heart and soul into the charging up of the attack as the beam of Hypnosis got nearer and nearer.

"Take this, 'Son'!" She bellowed as she fired the huge Moonblast, far more powerful than she believed herself to be capable of. It blasted through Darkrai's Hypnosis beam and straight into him. The Nightmare Pokémon who had defeated even Arceus the Creator roared in agony as he fell to the ground.

"You… You will pay… You'll never get off this Island alive…" He said weakly. Somehow, Cresselia had done it, and he was severely wounded. Strands of dark energy poured from him like blood.

"There's a reason I had that Prophecy, Darkrai," Cresselia said, "It's because out of every prophet, I'm the one who would stand most of a chance helping those young Heroes to defeat you for good. You've lost this round, and I only have enough energy to Teleport away so I can't finish you off, but… This isn't the end."

"You're right it's not the end…" Darkrai said haggardly, "We'll meet again… I have other ways of achieving power, you know… I don't need you…"

The last part of that sentence scared her. What other twisted schemes did he have planned for the future? After all, he had said that this was only the beginning.

"We have won this round, Darkrai. Mark my words, the Three Heroes and I will be ready for you next time we meet. You won't know what hit you."

"Dream on… Mother…" The Nightmare Pokémon managed to gasp out one final protest before he passed out.

Cresselia smiled. They had all survived this. Well, she had at least.

 _Are you still on the Island?_ She reached out telepathically to someone.

 _Yes, Lady Cresselia!_ Malamar's voice answered.

 _I'm sorry to do this, but I can't fight anyone right now… I need one last favour…_ She said. She told him what she wanted him to do, then, when he promised her he would do his best, she used the last of her energy to Teleport off.

* * *

The three heroes had almost made it out of the forest, barrelling towards the beach they had started their battle on. They had narrowly avoided attack after attack from their pursuers, and Absol was still yelling curses at them.

"Don't they ever give up?" Chespin cried.

"Failure isn't an option for them, considering who leads them!" Froakie remarked.

"They're gaining on us!" Fennekin shrieked.

They broke out of the thickly wooded undergrowth and arrived at the sandy beach, still laden with fallen enemies from their previous battle here. Absol and Gardevoir caught up to them within seconds.

"Where's Lady Cresselia?! I hope she wasn't defeated by Darkrai…" Fennekin thought aloud.

Absol laughed, a more highly pitched sound than you would expect.

"I think it's safe to say she's dead. You three failed your little mission. It's too bad that you were so close, too… Oh, well! Now it's time for _you_ to die as well!"

Fennekin was shaking again. Froakie stayed cool, but was quite tired from the sprint. Chespin knew he was the only one in any state to attempt to get them out of this.

"You can try, losers!" The young hero yelled defiantly, "Since we came here we've been fighting far tougher enemies than you!"

Bravely, he made a run towards Absol. The larger Pokémon touched a pendant that had been covered by his thick mane and began to transform, just as Froakie had just recently seen Aggron do. White light glimmered across the beach, sealing the heroes' doom

"No way!" Fennekin exclaimed.

"Chespin, be careful, he's got a Mega Evolution!"

When the white light cleared, Absol now had wings and looked a lot more powerful. Chespin shuddered, then grinned.

"What are you smiling about, idiot?" Absol spat.

"I just find it funny," Chespin said, "You didn't lose that ugly-looking scar of yours when you Mega Evolved!"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" The Disaster Pokémon bellowed, and took a swipe at Chespin with his claws. Chespin moved, then hit Absol with a staggeringly strong Power-Up Punch right where before his enemy could react. The punch landed right where the scar Gallade had given him was. Absol yowled in pain and his eyes glowed with pure rage.

"That's the last straw, you little punk! You three little brats are sorry excuses for heroes!"

He launched another Razor Wind towards them, just as he had launched the attack that had killed his former ally, Pyroar. Fennekin screamed in panic, thinking that it would do the same to the three of them.

"Guys, get out of the way!" Froakie shouted, knowing that it was pointless. The hurricane Absol had created was too large for them to avoid.

"WHAT THE HELL?" The three heroes heard Absol shout. They had not seen what had happened as their eyes had all been closed, flinching and bracing themselves for the impact of the attack.

When they opened their eyes, Absol was glaring at the other Pokémon.

"How dare you, Gardevoir?!" Absol yelled, "Are you planning on going traitor, just like that coward Zweilous?"

"Shut up!" Froakie said, defending his recent acquaintance, "Zweilous isn't a coward!"

Gardevoir didn't answer. She had the same sorrowful, distanced look on her face as she previously did. Had she saved them? It seemed that way… But why would she have done that?

Froakie silently nodded his thanks to her while Chespin and Fennekin prepared themselves to attack again.

"Fine, I'll try that again!" Absol roared, this time firing Shadow Balls at them. Gardevoir cancelled them out with Shadow Balls of her own, and they hit Absol.

"Why are you doing this?!" He shrieked, "Protecting these little brats who you were told to kill? Master Darkrai will have you killed!"

"I care not." Gardevoir shrugged. She held up a Mega Stone of her own, and Mega Evolved in an identical flash of white light. Her dress turned to an elegant ball gown, and she fired a Moonblast Absol's way. Her fellow servant of Darkrai narrowly dodged the attack. She turned to Chespin and friends.

"You three need to get out of here!" She shouted.

"We can't just leave you here after you helping us!" Chespin called.

"You have to!" Gardevoir replied, "Don't worry about me! No doubt we'll see each other again, if I am not killed for my rebellion.

"Where are we going to go?!" Fennekin yelled, "We can't swim!"

"We can help you there!" A voice called from the shore.

Froakie grinned despite himself, "Malamar? Inkay?!"

Chespin and Fennekin turned from the two fighting henchmen to see three squid-like Pokémon.

"You know these guys, Froakie?" Fennekin asked.

"They're friends of Cresselia. They saved my life when I was fighting two of Darkrai's generals earlier…"

"Aw, it was nothing!" One of the Inkay said.

"She's right…" Malamar said with a winning smile, "Now, let's get you three of this Island! You'll be glad to know that Lady Cresselia is safe!"

Chespin grinned, "Really? That's awesome! She really faced down Darkrai!"

Malamar nodded, "He's probably not dead, so that's why we need to leave fast!"

"But that Pokémon saved us!" Fennekin said.

"I'm sorry," Malamar said, "But we have to go now if we want to live."

"HEY, GARDEVOIR!" Chespin called to the battling Pokémon, "WE'LL MEET AGAIN, I PROMISE!"

"Thanks so much for helping us!"

Gardevoir gave them a fleeting look before smashing Absol into a tree.

"WE'LL DESTROY YOU THREE RUNTS NEXT TIME!" Absol screeched, getting up immediately and retaliating against his ally turned foe.

"Come on, guys!" Froakie said, "We need to leave!"

"Chespin, Fennekin, the Inkay twins here will Teleport you guys back to the Guild!" Malamar said, "Froakie, you're with me!"

They all joined hands (and tentacles) and in a second, Lunar Island was just a flash. They had gotten out of the battle alive, miraculously…

* * *

 _Two Days Later…_

"HEY, CHESPIN, WAKE UP!" Guildmaster Exploud's voice threatened to shatter the previously sleeping Pokémon's eardrums once more.

"He's awake?" Chespin heard Fennekin's concerned voice.

"Two days is a long time, but I've slept way longer than that!" Slowbro told someone.

Chespin's vision was at first blurry, then sharpened. He was lying on a bed in the sick bay. Surrounding him were all of his friends. Fennekin Froakie, Slowbro, Alakazam, Zweilous, Haxorus, Gallade and Luxray were all there. Malamar and the Inkay were present, as well as a few other Psychic Pokémon from Lunar Island who were in beds of their own.

"Hi… Guys…" Chespin muttered groggily, "Why am I here?"

"When we arrived back here, you passed out from exhaustion," Froakie said, "It was pretty uncool."

"I think he fought bravely!" Fennekin protested.

"I agree," Luxray said, winking at Chespin.

 _Everyone's here…_ Chespin thought blankly, _What a relief…_

Chespin remembered everything from the battle. He remembered Crawdaunt, Rhyperior, Pyroar, Darkrai… He finally remembered that Pokémon who had sacrificed herself to let them get away.

" _Gardevoir_!" He exclaimed.

"What?" Gallade looked shocked, "You met Gardevoir?"

"You know her?" Froakie asked quizzically.

"She's my sister!" Gallade shouted, "Is she alive?"

"Yes… But… She protected us from Absol…"

"She _fought_ Absol?" Gallade couldn't believe it, "Darkrai won't be pleased with her for that…"

"Our thoughts exactly…" Fennekin murmured, "I'm sorry, Gallade. Your sister committed treason against Darkrai for _us_ …"

"I'm glad," Gallade smiled, "I just hope she's alive…"

"I promised we'd see her again!" Chespin remembered, "And I promise you, Gallade, that I will keep that promise! She can't be all bad, considering she protected us… Maybe when we see her she'll defect, like Zweilous!"

"ANYWAY," Exploud said, "NOW THAT ALL THREE OF THE GUILD'S HEROES ARE AWAKE, I SAY WE SHOULD START THE CELEBRATIONS OF THEIR VICTORY ON LUNAR ISLAND!"

" _Wait_!" Chespin shouted, "Where's Lady Cresselia?"

"Never fear, little one," The Lunar Pokémon's serene voice assured him, and she came floating down the stairs into the sick bay.

"Lady Cresselia!" Fennekin said, "I'm glad you're all right!"

"Same to you, Fennekin. You too, Chespin and Froakie. It's a great relief that you're all still here!"

"Did you really think we would fail our mission?" Chespin joked.

"No, little one, I had the utmost faith in you from the very start. Now, everyone, before you start the celebrations that Guildmaster Exploud was speaking of…"

"HEY! IT'S MY GUILD, I DECIDE WHEN WE START!" Exploud protested.

"Apologies, Exploud," Cresselia laughed, "May I share one thing with the group?"

Exploud remembered who he was talking to, then quietened down and bowed his head, "Yes, Lady Cresselia. Sorry, Lady Cresselia." Luxray looked to Chespin and they both suppressed laughter.

"Anyway, what I was going to bring to light… Was this. Are you all aware of the Prophecy of the Three Heroes?"

None of them spoke. Apparently, they weren't.

"WE DON'T REALLY DO PROPHECIES AROUND HERE!" Exploud laughed, "WELL, WHAT IS IT?"

Cresselia cleared her throat then began to explain the Prophecy: "The Prophecy states that a great evil will come upon our land and try to ravage it, killing Pokémon and wreaking havoc. I believe this part pertains to the outbreak of feral Pokémon lately, as well as the rise of the Destroyer, Darkrai,"

"Interesting…" Gallade said, "So, this Prophecy foretold our world falling into its current state?"

"Yes," Cresselia said, "During my recent sleep, I had a vision, albeit a very vague one. It was a vision matching this Prophecy, and that's when Darkrai was born and the Prophecy was set into motion."

"WHO KNEW?" Exploud roared, "I DIDN'T KNOW PROPHECIES ACTUALLY _MEANT_ ANYTHING!"

"Is there anything else to this Prophecy, Lady Cresselia?" Haxorus asked.

"Yes… The Prophecy also tells of three heroes. One is to be of the Grass type, one Water and one Fire. I believe this part has come true, as well. Do you all have any idea what I'm getting at?"

"Y…Yes." Fennekin gasped.

"You mean…?" Froakie pointed at himself, Fennekin and Chespin in shock.

"Yes." Cresselia nodded, "It is as you say."

"WELL, IT SEEMS LIKELY," Exploud said, "CONSIDERING THEY _DID_ SAVE YOU FROM DARKRAI'S FORCES…"

"It would appear that this is the case," Alakazam said.

"Wow, guys! To think the Three Heroes of Prophecy helped me evolve!" Slowbro exclaimed.

The group started muttering amongst themselves, and Chespin felt dizzy again. Surely Cresselia couldn't mean what she was saying?

"Wait a second, Lady Cresselia!" Chespin blurted out, silencing the group, "Do you really think it's us?"

Cresselia nodded. "Yes, I believe that you are the Heroes that Arceus has left us with, and that it will be you three who end up vanquishing Darkrai. I'll declare it here and now," She said, "Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie are the Three Fated Heroes of Prophecy!"

* * *

In the Hall of Light, Gardevoir had been called to Darkrai's side for the first time in three days. Darkrai was still recovering from that fatal Moonblast he had taken from Cresselia at Lunar Island, and cursing himself for letting the chance to gain all that power slip away. Where had Cresselia gathered the energy to make a Moonblast that powerful anyway? He sighed and decided not to think about it, but was filled with a new rage when Gardevoir entered the room.

"You!" He bellowed, pointing a finger at her, "What did you think you were doing?"

Gardevoir avoided his eyes, "I'm sorry, Master. My old instincts must have kicked in once more. I don't know what came over me. How is Absol?"

"Ask him," Darkrai gestured to the corner of the room. Absol lay there in a heap, wounds all over his front legs and torso. The scar on his face was even redder and uglier-looking after Chespin had attacked him.

"You wench!" Absol howled, "I trusted you! You're just like your fool of a brother!"

Gardevoir resisted the urge to attack him again for badmouthing Gallade. Not for the first time, she wondered where her brother went after he escaped from the Hall of Light with Luxray and the others. This was no time to worry about that now.

"Absol, let's forgive her." Darkrai told his right-hand man, "After all, she is one of my most valuable warriors."

Gardevoir couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't know if she would rather stay alive working for this monster or be killed, but right now staying alive seemed pretty good. At least now she stood a chance of seeing her brother again.

"Really?" She gasped, "That's most gracious of you, Master."

"We all have days when we want to attack Absol," Darkrai muttered.

"I-I'm right here, Master…" Absol whimpered almost sadly. Gardevoir tried not to laugh at that idiot's hopeless devotion to Darkrai. How could a former friend of the Creator stoop so low?

"Besides, we have a lot of work to do now that Cresselia has escaped us. We have a new target, and a new mission…"

"Really, Master?" Absol perked up excitedly.

"Who might this new target be?" Gardevoir said, almost fearfully. What if it was someone she knew?

When Darkrai told them the name, Absol roared with approval and Gardevoir's heart sank with terror. If they were going to look for _that_ Pokémon, the world was in a lot more danger than she'd thought…

 _End of Part One_

* * *

 **A/N: Here ends Part 1 of my fic. I hope you all enjoyed it so far, from the beginning to the most recent arc. I enjoyed writing it immensely, and look forward to starting work on Part 2 (I'll start it in a week or two, fingers crossed). I also want to thank you for all the support so far, as in the month of November there has been over 1000 views on this story, and it now has 17 favourites and 20 reviews. I also want to thank Ckbrothers and Talarc for their regular reviews, praise and constructive criticisms. I also invite any other readers who want to share their opinion of the story to leave me a review as I love getting feedback from my readers. Well, this part of the adventures of the Three Fated Heroes has come to a close, but they will resume soon. I'll see you all for the start of Part 2, and again I cannot thank you enough for reading the story so far!**


	31. Chapter 27: The Council of War

**Part 2: The Shade Syndicate and the Cocoon of Destruction**

 _Chapter 27_

Guildmaster Exploud of Treasure Town looked around the circular conference room at the gathered Pokémon, about thirty in all.

Cresselia looked back at him, a resolute expression on her face. Also gathered were several senior Guild members and a few guests. Luxray gave his Guildmaster a nod and a smile as he entered. In the past month, he had fully recovered from the wounds he had sustained at the Hall of Light in the battle against Darkrai and his forces.

There were also some recent arrivals there. Haxorus, Gallade and Zweilous were around the large meeting table, and so were Slowbro and Alakazam.

 _Everyone seems to be here,_ the Guildmaster thought, and stood to begin the meeting.

"COMRADES," Exploud bellowed, "ARE YOU ALL READY TO BEGIN THIS COUNCIL?"

"Er, Guildmaster…" Sigilyph, one of Cresselia's closest allies, asked, "Could you perhaps use your… _Indoor voice_?"

"Yeah!" Musharna said, "You never know what kind of Pokémon could be listening in right now!"

"A valid point," Exploud nodded gratefully, speaking significantly quieter, "Thank you both. Anyway, shall we begin?"

The room full of Pokémon all nodded and muttered agreement. Exploud looked at one of the many pages he had sitting on his part of the table.

"Very well, then," He began, "As many of you are now aware, this Guild has now been marked as an enemy of Darkrai, after the events of the Battle of Lunar Island,"

"Excuse me!" A Pokémon, Ursaring, raised his paw, "Can you explain what exactly happened there? The Guild has neglected to tell most of us the exact details of the battle. Was Darkrai actually there?"

"Indeed," Exploud nodded grimly, "He was there. Three of my own Guild members saw him in the flesh. Lady Cresselia here went toe to toe with him."

"I did," Cresselia added, "And I am lucky to have escaped with my life. He and his henchmen are stronger than we know, and may have means of getting stronger."

"Means?" A Pidgeotto chimed in, "What kind of means are you talking about?"

"That's one of the things that we're gathered here to address," Exploud assured the bird Pokémon.

"Now, let's get down to the facts of it all," Exploud said, "Darkrai and his army are the biggest threat to us that has come about in a very long time. Just a few months ago, he imprisoned Arceus, the Creator of our world, into a Nightmare Realm, and we still have no way to save him. Another Pokémon, our dear friend Lucario, also suffered that fate, probably alongside countless other Pokémon."

"He's a _monster_ ," Zweilous added, "I was forced to work alongside him. He… He destroyed my homeland, and all of my family and friends. He's just pure evil incarnate."

" _Hold on a minute_!" Cincinno, the Guild's caretaker, roared, "Guildmaster, you've been harbouring a former servant of our enemy here for the past month?"

This statement began an uproar amongst the Pokémon.

"Do you not know the meaning of 'security'?!"

"He'll lead Darkrai straight here!"

"He's just as much of a monster as his former master!"

Exploud could take no more, and neglected to use his "indoor voice".

"ALL OF YOU, JUST SHUT UP!" The Guildmaster bellowed angrily, "DID YOU LISTEN TO NOTHING ZWEILOUS JUST SAID? HE IS A GOOD POKÉMON , AND HAS PROVED HIMSELF A VALUABLE MEMBER OF THIS GUILD IN THE MONTH SINCE HE ARRIVED HERE!"

That silenced the room just as quickly as the prior words had sent it into commotion.

"I can testify for that," Luxray said, "Zweilous fought bravely with myself, Gallade and Haxorus at the Hall of Light. He's just as much a member of Treasure Town now as any of the rest of us."

Luxray was well-respected among the Pokémon, so hearing him defend Zweilous silenced them, albeit begrudgingly for some of them.

"Thank you, Luxray," Exploud had seemed to calm down, "Anyway, shall we continue?"

More murmurs of agreement followed. Cresselia spoke once again.

"Guildmaster, if I may take things from here?"

"Go ahead, Lady Cresselia."

"Everyone, it seems that you are finding it hard to understand why you have been called here, and the prejudices I have heard against Zweilous prove that. You have been called here for this council because we need you all to join together with us to stand against the forces that threaten our world."

"What can we do?" A Dedenne asked.

"Unfortunately, we are not so sure on that right now, apart from just to keep doing what we're doing. But I'll say this: Darkrai will not stay still for long. I suspect he may be making new plans as we speak, and may be already setting them into action."

"But what could these new motives be?" Gallade asked, "Have you any idea?"

"As of now… Not quite," Cresselia admitted, "But things should become apparent with time. We must prepare the Three Fated Heroes for their eventual confrontation with Darkrai. They are the ones who can save us all."

"Just who are these 'Three Fated Heroes'?" A Conkeldurr asked.

"CHESPIN, FENNEKIN AND FROAKIE!" Exploud roared frustratedly. He had tried to explain this many times to the Pokémon of the Guild, but no matter how many times he did so, they never understood.

"What? They're just kids! Three rookie kids!" Pidgeotto gasped.

"They're just as capable as you or I, Pidgeotto!" Luxray defended his three young friends.

"They fought valiantly on Lunar Island!" Haxorus helped try and defend the three young heroes' honour, not because he felt obligated to, but because he knew it was the truth.

"Three Fated Heroes, my hide!" Stoutland roared gruffly, "Their victory against Darkrai's forces must've been sheer dumb luck! Now you're going to make them overconfident by feeding them the idea that they're invincible, and send them to an early grave, or worse!"

Pokémon started to mutter in agreement to what the large canine Pokémon had just said. Exploud couldn't believe what he had heard. He was beginning to doubt the idea that they were the Fated Heroes. How could they be? They were just kids, for Arceus' sake! He had thrown them into danger once before on Lunar Island, and in this conference he was proposing to do it even more times… Or maybe he already had…

"Where are these _Three Fated Heroes_ now, anyway?" Conkeldurr asked.

The room fell silent again, and Exploud spoke as quietly as ever, a look of resignation on his face.

"They… They're on a mission to… The Lost Lands."

* * *

"Well, we're almost there, guys!" Lapras said, "Prepare for landfall!"

"Okay, Lapras!" Chespin said happily, "Oh, wow! I'm so excited for a new mission!"

"Likewise," Froakie said, "This'll be our first since Lunar Island."

"This is just a recon mission, guys, so we won't be doing any fighting, if it can be avoided."

"Yes, Fennekin," Chespin sighed as if he had been reminded this a thousand times, "We know."

Fennekin laughed. "Sorry, I know I keep saying that, but I know that you two are just itching for a battle!"

"Well, we won't get any stronger if we don't train!" Froakie pointed out, and Fennekin giggled again.

"That's true, I guess," She said, "But don't burn yourselves out."

"That's impossible!" Chespin said, "I told you about all the fights I got into against those powerful Pokémon on Lunar Island!"

"Yes, Chespin, they're all you've talked about!" Fennekin replied with a teasing smile on her face.

"It's hard not to talk about it when you're so _great_!" Chespin bragged.

 _It's true,_ Froakie thought, _He_ has _gotten so much stronger ever since Lunar Island… I don't know how he did it, but I need to catch up to him!_

Froakie then thought of the Shade Syndicate, and his blood boiled. He had promised himself that after the battle of Lunar Island had ended, he would leave the Guild for a while and fight them for his freedom, but so far that had not happened in the month since the battle.

 _Damn it…_ He thought, _I'm such a coward…_

"Hey, look guys!" Chespin said, "It's like a jungle, but there are crags and mountains, too!"

"That's right, Chespin," Lapras said, "The Lost Lands is a home to Pokémon thousands of years old, some of the first made by Lord Arceus. What've you been sent here for, anyway?"

"Recon," Froakie answered, "The Guildmaster has told us there's been reports of strange activity here in the Lost Lands, and we've been instructed to go there and check it out."

"Well, be careful," Lapras warned her young friends, "The Pokémon here may well be dangerous, so watch your backs."

"Ah, don't worry, Lapras!" Chespin grinned, "We took on the forces of Darkrai, so any trouble we encounter here should be a piece of cake!"

After a few minutes, they reached shore. Large rocks jutted from the ground and mountains could be seen past huge, thick trees.

"Thanks for the ride, Lapras!"

"No problem! I'll await your return back at Treasure Town! Remember, you can just use your Explorer Badges to get back this time, thanks to that adjustment Alakazam made to everyone's badge!"

A few weeks ago, Alakazam had come up with an innovative new way to extend the range of Explorer Badges. He had upgraded each and every badge so that it now could teleport an Explorer back to the Guild from virtually anywhere.

The three explorers waved goodbye to their seafaring friend, then turned to the ancient land in front of them.

"Well," Chespin looked at his two friends, "What are we waiting for? Let's start our recon!"

* * *

About half an hour had passed in the meeting, and the Guildmaster's patience was well and truly whittling. The gathered Pokémon had bickered their way down Exploud's list of matters to discuss, pertaining the potential courses of action the Guild would take against Darkrai and his forces, but now he had reached the final one.

"AHEM!" He cleared his throat loudly to silence the chattering hall of Pokémon.

"Now, we have reached the final order of business, which I myself will explain to you. The final matter I wish to discuss is… Mega Evolution."

More chattering followed, confused questions from most Pokémon in the room.

"Mega Evolution?" Stoutland growled, "What in the name of Arceus is that?"

"Beats me," Cincinno answered.

"Don't worry," Exploud said, "All will be explained. Mega Evolution is, in short, a special form taken by certain Pokémon that transcends the power of normal evolution. Darkrai is known to have a few Pokémon in his army capable of such things, but so do we."

"We do?"

"Yes," Exploud smiled, "Gallade, if you will?"

"Certainly, Guildmaster," Gallade said, "Watch carefully, everyone."

Gallade touched his Galladite, and it began to emit the familiar white light, and the warrior began to transform into his Mega form.

"What the hell?" Stoutland looked dumbfounded.

"Did I just see what I think I saw?" Conkeldurr whispered disbelievingly.

"You've been keeping this under wraps this whole time, Guildmaster?!" Pidgeotto squawked.

"Yes," Exploud said, "This, my friends, may be the key that will open the door to victory against Darkrai. If we gather more allies capable of Mega Evolution, I am confident that we will develop a force strong enough to defeat this great evil."

"I… I can't believe it," Chansey, the nurse of the Guild, gasped.

"Not much is known about Mega Evolution," Gallade said, "But it is a powerful tool, and our research into the matter has unearthed some… _Unbelievable_ information. Guildmaster, may I continue?"

Exploud gave him a smile. "Go ahead, Gallade."

"Our research has found the existence of a faraway place known only as the _Transcending Ground_. This place is where Mega Evolution first originated, and is inhabited by two Pokémon known as Ampharos and Mawile. They have trained a number of past heroes to acquire Mega Evolution."

"We have contacted these Pokémon," Gallade continued, "And they have said that they will be delighted to help us in our cause. For that reason, myself and a couple of others have planned a journey to the Transcending Ground, and when we return we shall have a complete grasp over Mega Evolution."

"W-What?!" Stoutland barked, "That's incredible!"

"Amazing!" Cincinno agreed.

"It's true," Cresselia said, "Mega Evolution is an incredible power, and I believe that it will prove a vital key to stopping Darkrai and his forces."

"Agreed," Exploud said, "The Pokémon travelling to the Transcending Ground are as follows: Luxray, Gallade, Haxorus, Zweilous, Alakazam, Slowbro, and… Pidgeotto."

Pidgeotto, who was just an average Explorer in a team with his friend Fletchinder, looked completely astounded.

"G… Guildmaster?!" He stuttered, "Is this a mistake?"

"No, Pidgeotto," Exploud said, "I have a hunch that going to the Transcending Ground may help you reach new levels of power. You could be a great asset to us, Pidgeotto."

"But… But I'm just an average Explorer!"

"So were the Three Fated Heroes," Luxray chimed in, "But now they are a vital part of this war."

Pidgeotto couldn't believe this. He had wanted no part in this "war". He just wanted to help enough Pokémon to live comfortably.

"I… I don't know if I _want_ to go on this mission," He said, "I mean, if I end up getting stronger, and you send me somewhere like the _Lost Lands_ , where you sent your precious little heroes… I don't know what I'll do. I'm not sure if I'm prepared to risk my life, here."

"That's so selfish!" Luxray said, "The Guildmaster _chose_ you for this, so obviously he trusts you!"

"Well… Maybe I don't particularly _trust_ him." Pidgeotto said scornfully, "After all, he sent Lucario on that mission a while back, and has anyone seen _him_ lately?"

Luxray tensed, and sparks of electricity were emitted from his claws. He tried to hold back his rage.

"How can you say that!?" Luxray said, "You can't blame the Guildmaster for that! Lucario and I _chose_ to go on that mission, Pidgeotto!"

"Luxray, that's enough," The Guildmaster said, "MEETING ADJOURNED!"

Pidgeotto and the other Pokémon at the meeting filed out of the room, and Luxray stared savagely at the back of Pidgeotto's head. He then nodded his head in goodbye to his Guildmaster, and headed off along with the others.

Exploud rubbed his eyes wearily. That had been a train-wreck. At least they knew their course of action, but it seemed that the townspeople were starting to doubt him, which hurt him a lot.

 _Guildmaster Wigglytuff… What would you do if you were here?_

* * *

 **A/N: It's been a long time, but here is Chapter 27 of my fic, the long-awaited beginning of Part 2. It's good to be back, and there was a delay for this Chapter because I didn't know how to begin Part 2, but I feel like I chose an all right way to start things off. From what I have planned, a lot of action is on the way, and I apologise for this slow Chapter. Anyway, be sure to follow and favourite if you enjoy my story, and leave a review telling me what you thought if you want. Thanks for reading!**


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